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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."
This wiper also keeps lions away.
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.
Will the vibrations exacerbate the crack?
What happens when its raining heavily, and a vehicle going the other way hits a puddle, and dumps a massive wave of water on your windshield? What happens when its full inch of heavy slush? I'd say its a nice addition on top of regular wipers, but I'm very skeptical about replacing them.
You could just buy a bottle of Rain-X.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
In space, no one can hear you wipe
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
Jet fighters use bleed air to clear the windscreens, not high frequency sound. The pilot just has to remember to use it sparingly on the ground, or the windscreen melts, which most pilots agree is a bad thing...and mechanics get really ticked off replacing them. Another way to clean the windscreens is a quick shot of JP-8 from your nearby in-flight refueler (booms works best), but you didn't hear that from me...
Impetuous! Homeric!
"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.
For maximum effect, apply JP-8 and scorching hot exhausts simultaneously!
...for about 30 seconds and then as the aircraft accelerates past 200kts or so, the rain x is scrubbed off. We tried it, didn't work. Best thing is to use a plexiglass polish to keep the glass as smooth as possible between flights. A bug hitting the windscreen of a fighter jet going 500+kts is not going to be repelled by high frequency sound or any hydrophobic surface. I've seen dents in the leading edges of the wings just from hitting grasshoppers...
Impetuous! Homeric!
You may not actually be hearing the sound waves themselves, but the harmonics they create inside of your skull/jawbone/ear.
I can hear them too, but I've more or less concluded that, like everything else in a dentist office, it's temporary and the benefits outweigh the nuisance.
I hate the sound, but it seems less problematic than the medieval tools they use otherwise.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I am curious as to how it will "fix" the bugs getting smeared on the windscreen.
Heck I've never found a set of windshield wipers that truly solves this problem. Usually they just end up smearing bug guts all over.
Teenagers are programmed to only hear things that have been turned up to 11.
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.
I've seen dents in the leading edges of the wings just from hitting grasshoppers...
If pilots are doing 500+kts at altitudes reachable by grasshoppers, I'd be worried about the dents caused by trees. And small children.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
I believe jets do indeed land at 10,000+ feet. There are 13 commercial airports with an altitude of 10,000 feet or higher. That's not including any military airports.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
This works on fighters because 1) in flight, they're always going really fast by automotive standards, and 2) their canopies are angled far into the windstream. If water can be broken free of surface tension, it will be blown away. For a car stopped in heavy rain in traffic, it probably won't do much.
Especially when it's been hit by an ice insect from outer space...
Is 1563649 a prime number?
If pilots are doing 500+kts at altitudes reachable by grasshoppers, I'd be worried about the dents caused by trees. And small children.
You may have heard of locusts before. All a locust is is a grasshopper in its migratory phase. Many species of grasshopper can fly quite well.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
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?