Self-Cleaning Wiperless Windshield

What do you think of a wiperless windshield? Sounds impossible, but great news if it were true!

Well good for us, it’s true.

Car designer Leonardo Fioravanti of the Pininfarina Company has recently launched the design of a concept car that doesn’t need windshield wipers. They call it the Hidra. Why you say? Because it sound like Hydra? I don’t know – it’s not important. What they did say is that the car could reach mass production in the next five years and that it’s windshield does not require wipers.

So, how does a windshield keep itself clean and clear?

The Hidra works two ways:

First off, the futuristic car’s aerodynamic design will let debris and rain slide off its sleek, smooth, “funny looking” surface (look at the picture above – looks funny doesn’t it?).

Then there’s the chemical treatment to the glass itself. This here is where the innovation really kicks in.

The car’s windows (see picture above) — aside from the basic UV protection that we all need — have a water repellent layer (in scientific terms, the glass is hydrophobic). I don’t know what made it so but I guess it’s some sort of “basic” treatment to the glass.

Secondly, the already hydrophobic glass is treated with a layer of “nano dust” (cue space horror theme). But seriously, nano dust, they said will push dirt to the edges of the glass as the car moves forward. Like a broom? No!

I’m no expert but I think nano dust (keeping with the “common” meaning of nano) will keep the surface rough so that water will not stick to it. But not rough enough like real dust that it will blur your vision – it’s not dust, it’s nano (minute, miniscule, etc.) dust! Hooray!

But it doesn’t stop there though. The third layer of the glass is a receptor surface that tells the nano dust layered hydrophobic glass when the windshield is dirty – that there is the icing on the cake, so to speak. Nano doesn’t just mean it’s atomically small, nano also means, well, that it’s pretty much robotic in nature. Are you, like me, imagining small hands coming out of the nano dust particles and starts cleaning up the glass much like the Jetson’s nanny robot? Too much? Sorry.

The fourth layer then powers the entire thing.

It sounds simple when you think about it. Grime piles up with water because water makes it stick to the glass. So if you eliminate as much water as possible, then you can easily clean the surface. And to automate the entire process, you use robots. You can never go wrong with robots!

So does this self-cleaning concept make the Hidra the car of the future? It’s too simple for me so my answer is definitely not. But it’s a start.

The problem is this: what happens to the grime that piles up at the sides of the windshield – the part of the glass that is not hydrophobic, not nano dust layered, not mechanical, not powered? I guess that still leaves the cleaning to you after all dear driver!