Windshield sensor??

That is probably the camera for the automatic windshield washer. Also, on the side of the housing there are humidity sensors that tell the climate control whether to turn on the AC or not.

 

pg. 354

 

Really? you combed through all 784 pages?

 

Yes i have just come that far.....there are some more functions beside them.....will have more once i get hold of my buddy from Japan

 

I'm trying to come up with a reasonable location for a toll pass stick-on. The standard suggested place puts it in front of sensor 2 which is the auto-dimming sensor on the back of the mirror. It seems it is sensing the on-coming headlights (I don't see how it would register a headlight from behind since there's no fixed angle for the mirror and the reflected light would be difficult to calibrate).

So, I was going to mount it above that area (and into the "dotted zone") until I noticed a U-shaped cutout (#1) on the headliner (where it makes a ridge adjoining the windshield). I can't see anything in that hole except for the same color as the car exterior (doesn't seem like much padding/noise protection there). Does anyone know what this hole is for? I don't want to cover up some unknown sensor.

I believe #3 is the LDA (lane departure assist) sensor. At location #4 there appear to be two sensors: one a small 'camera' and above it is a 3/4" by 1" high rectangle. I understand one or the other has to do with auto wiper sensing, but does anyone know what the other one does (and which is which)?

Thanks.

 

The forward sensor on the electrochromic inner rear view mirror assembly detects the ambient light level, to keep the mirror from dimming in the daytime.

The opening is for the cord guide provided with one of the drive recorders (page in Japanese) that Toyota sells as dealer-installed options in Japan. The cord guide (コードガイド) is shown, for example, in the installation instructions for the DRD-H66:



The opening is on the wrong side for left-hand drive vehicles, but the same roof headlining is used on fourth-generation Prius and Prius Prime (Prius PHV) cars built for sale in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and other countries.

Toyota calls this the Forward Recognition Camera. It supports LDA and other Toyota Safety Sense features.

As @Pizza Driver kindly notes, this is the rain sensor. It’s not a camera; instead, as the New Car Features book (available by subscription to techinfo.toyota.com) explains, it uses an infrared LED and a photodiode to measure “the change in the difference of the index of refraction between the glass and the area outside the windshield” when raindrops are present. The sensor is used by the windshield wiper and air conditioning systems.

 

All I can say is all these sensor openings in the windshield make this one expensive replacement item...and it's only available from Toyota so far! Then they want to charge you extra to recalibrate all those doodads after the tech re-mounts them to the new glass.

 

Thanks to all and especially Elektroingenieur for good information.
Since I’m not going to drive to Japan to get the drive recorder, the ‘sunpass’ will take its place. (Though it would be nice to know who dinged the car).

 

Does your toll pass has to be in clear view from outside? I placed my toll transponder on inside face (behind rear view mirror) of the Forward Recognition Camera Housing (#3 in your photo), not directly on the windshield. Mine works with radio signal, I believe, so does not have to be in clear view from outside, but need to be near window.