The Woking-based firm’s chief designer Frank Stephenson told The Sunday Times that the system was already being used by the military.
‘It took a lot of effort to get this out of a source in the military. I asked why you don’t see wipers on some aircraft on when they are coming in at very low levels for landing.
‘I was told that it’s not a coating on the surface but a high frequency electronic system that never fails and is constantly active. Nothing will attach to the windscreen.’
The system is expected to be introduced to McLaren’s range of sportscars which cost between £170,000 and £870,000, but once perfected could be produced for the mass market for as little as £10.
Paul Wilcox, professor of ultrasonics at Bristol University’s faculty of engineering, told The Sunday Times: ‘The obvious way of doing it is to have an ultrasonic transducer in the corner of the windscreen that would excite waves at around 30kHz to bounce across the windscreen.’
McLaren confirms it's developing new wiper-free windscreens | Mail Online.
Robin Edgar
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