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Next-Gen Windshield Wipers To Be Based On Jet Fighter "Forcefield" Tech

cartechboy writes "It looks like the old-school windshield wiper is about to be replaced by new technology — but not until 2015. British car-maker McLaren is apparently developing a new window cleaning system that is modeled from fighter jet tech. The company isn't revealing exactly how it will work, but the idea comes from the chief designer simply asking a military source why you don't see wipers on jets as they land. Experts expect McClaren to use constantly active, high-frequency sound waves outside the range of human hearing that will effectively create a force field across a car's windshield to repel water, ice insects and other debris. Similar sound waves are used by dentists to remove plaque from teeth."

17 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. Ice insects? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This wiper also keeps lions away.

    1. Re:Ice insects? by Scutter · · Score: 5, Funny

      I know some journalists hate the Oxford Comma, but this is getting ridiculous,

      --

      "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
    2. Re:Ice insects? by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Funny

      Can it be adjusted by turning a knob. So if it is raining really hard I can divert power from the AC to the Shields.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  2. Re:Impossible by bondsbw · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm pretty sure that most tech involving sound waves is not developed in space.

    --
    All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
  3. Re:What happens when it can't keep up? by hubie · · Score: 4, Funny

    They forgot to mention that you need to be driving 500 mph for these to be most effective.

  4. Re:Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In space, no one can hear you wipe

  5. Re:What happens when it can't keep up? by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 5, Funny

    Solution: Don't drive a McClaren in those conditions. You'll just have to take the Bentley, or the Rolls Royce.

    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  6. Howling dogs by cyberfringe · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is this why my dog howls when he drives my McClaren in the rain? I always thought he howled for the sheer fun of it!

    --
    There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about. -- John von Neumann
  7. Re:Compressed Air by flaming+error · · Score: 3, Funny

    "The issue is always budgets, and the $1 here, $4 there for better components supposedly adds up ... Sometimes that is true, sometimes I want to...whack someone upside the head with a baseball bat."

    While baseball bats may be suitable, we here in accounting will only approve the less expensive 1-meter steel pipe from Dai Yung Enterprises.

  8. Combine it! by Wdi · · Score: 4, Funny

    For maximum effect, apply JP-8 and scorching hot exhausts simultaneously!

  9. Re:What happens when it can't keep up? by Capt.DrumkenBum · · Score: 4, Funny

    Solution: Don't drive a McClaren in those conditions. You'll just have to take the Bentley, or the Rolls Royce.

    You don't drive a Bentley or a Rolls Royce... Your chauffeur drives the Bentley or the Roller. So it doesn't matter how the windscreen is kept clean as you will be riding in back, far away from such irrelevancies.
    As it should be.

    --
    If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
  10. Re:High power ultrasound? by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Teenagers are programmed to only hear things that have been turned up to 11.

  11. Re:High power ultrasound? by MightyYar · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh, man, like brown noise. I hope this thing makes dogs shit all over everything.

    Oh, wait.

    --
    W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  12. Re:Or... by jandrese · · Score: 3, Funny

    You probably won't notice the rain distortion so much if your windshield always makes the world look like a softcore porn shoot.

    --

    I read the internet for the articles.
  13. Re:What happens when it can't keep up? by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 3, Funny

    I ride in a Bentley that is towed by a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce.

    --
    These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
  14. Re:Impossible by SleazyRidr · · Score: 3, Funny

    Especially when it's been hit by an ice insect from outer space...

  15. Re:High power ultrasound? by Zynder · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sorry guy. I made that joke to my teens and they didn't get it. See the world has moved on and inflation is a real bitch. 11 just isn't good enough anymore. To get a reaction out of kids these days, it better be OVER 9000! or they won't even raise an eyebrow. Why the hell are they still on my lawn?