McLaren Planning To Use Jet Fighter Technology To Replace Windscreen Wipers

McLaren Group wants to make wiper blades obsolete by designing a new system to repel water from windscreens which is inspired from jet fighters. McLaren remained tight lipped about the details but based on the few hints dropped by the company’s chief designer Frank Stephenson experts have tried to predict how this system is supposed to work. Frank says he came up with this idea when he saw military aircrafts coming in for landing and noticed that they did not have any wipers. He then contacted officials who informed him that the aircrafts did not use water repelling coating but instead used a reliable high frequency electronic system. Experts predict that the McLaren system might be similar to the one being used by dentists to remove plaque from patients’ teeth using high frequency sound waves.


Bristol University faculty, Paul Wilcox says that the system would involve an ultrasonic transducer placed in the corner of the windscreen that would generate waves of 30 kHz across the windscreen and these vibrations would repel water. Conventional windscreen wipers generate some noise and they tend to stick to the glass in cold weather. The McLaren system is said to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages. The company plans to install this new system on its upcoming supercar which is expected to launch in 2015.

Source: McLaren confirms it's developing new wiper-free windscreens | Daily Mail Online