Researchers at Texas A&M University, with a little help from manufacturing giant 3M, are making it rain.

University officials and the company behind Post-It Notes and other products on Tuesday announced a $1.6 million corporate contribution at the school’s RELLIS campus that will be used to build a simulated “rain range.” The range, 1,000 feet long and 50 feet wide, will allow Texas A&M Transportation Institute researchers to test autonomous vehicles in wet weather conditions.

A&M Chancellor John Sharp, in a statement heralding the agreement, called it “an exciting example of how the A&M System can work with private industry to address the most challenging transportation issues of today and tomorrow.”

Bob Anderson, 3M’s vice president of research and development for the company’s safety and graphics business group, said officials see “connected and automated vehicle technologies reshaping transportation and mobility.”

Getting to that point, however, is expected to require years of further research, building on already established systems such as lane assistance and automatic braking common in some newer automobiles.

The new range will allow TTI researchers to assess both autonomous vehicles and highway infrastructure under rainy conditions, at speeds of up to 60 mph. Realizing how the technology acts during inclement weather is going to be crucial to perfecting autonomous vehicle technology, officials said.

“No testing facility anywhere can match the potential of the RELLIS Campus as we work to build systems that enable safe and reliable communication between cars and our roadways,” TTI director Greg Winfree said in the news release.

dug.begley@chron.com

twitter.com/DugBegley