Tesla Cybertruck Uses Lasers instead of Windshield Wipers!

[hridge2020]

No, you misunderstand what I said. I'll post another video....

Yes, the glass is coated to create the "refractive index" you described. The laser never touches the water droplet on the windshield because the laser never leaves the interior of the glass windshield. The laser heats up the tiny area where the water droplet sits on the windshield to vaporize it using the laser's energy. The laser energy is at the frequency of resonance of water so the water is efficiently vaporized. The laser is not in the visible spectrum so you cannot see it and it will never leave the interior of the glass. The glass is not really glass but ALON (transparent aluminum ceramic oxide nitride) so it has very low specific heat. Therefore, once the car is stopped, the laser turns off. If you touch it after the car stops, the glass will be cool to the touch due to it's low specific heat.

This is hard to understand using text. I will upload another video.

 

[lillyM3]

Ok, here is the video explaining exactly how the Cybertruck's laser windshield wipers work. It is only 2 minutes:

And a bonus feature - Gorgon mode for Sentry (snakes automatically retracted when the car is unlocked). I'm definitely liking this idea more and more!

 

[drtimhill]

Ok, here is the video explaining exactly how the Cybertruck's laser windshield wipers work. It is only 2 minutes:

Well yes, we get the concept (well, I do), but you didn't address any of the issues. First, as was noted by others, a laser with enough power to evaporate water droplets at the rate they fall during heavy rain will have to be powerful, and such a laser is dangerous. It's all very well claiming that the laser never leaves the glass, but that doesnt matter .. any crack in the glass would spill highly dangerous laser light all over the place. And the wavelength isnt important; just because we can't see it doesnt mean its harmless .. ever put your head in a microwave oven when its on?

And the laser doesnt and cannot direct light at individual water droplets. How can it? If the laser light is contained in the glass, it has to bounce around all over the place by internal reflections until it stumbles on a water drop. I'm not clear how you expect it not to bounce when it finds a water drop and instead heat it; presumably there is some playing with reflective index here, but I'm highly skeptical such a change would be effective.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

.. ever put your head in a microwave oven when its on?

Great way to dry your hair.

 

[Cyberax]

No, you misunderstand what I said. I'll post another video....
Yes, the glass is coated to create the "refractive index" you described. The laser never touches the water droplet on the windshield because the laser never leaves the interior of the glass windshield. The laser heats up the tiny area where the water droplet sits on the windshield to vaporize it using the laser's energy. The laser energy is at the frequency of resonance of water so the water is efficiently vaporized.

Ugh. So much wrongness in your post. First, there is no "resonant frequency of water". Every material absorbs light at specific wavelengths (frequencies), you can view the absorption spectrum for water here: Electromagnetic absorption by water - Wikipedia - it's fairly continuous. And even using lasers tuned to the absorption peaks won't make them use less energy to vaporize water, and I've already estimated that you'd need multi-kW lasers for that.

Another problem with your plan is that laser light will "spill" out of droplets while they are being vaporized. Especially if you have a hard rain and your windshield gets covered in a water film.

Never mind that a 2-5kW laser will actually _melt_ the windshield itself. A smallest imperfection will cause the laser to get absorbed, heating it up, resulting in a runaway meltdown.

So no, this is a stupid idea and there's no way it can work.

 

[HellsKitchen]

Tesla Cybertruck Uses Lasers instead of Windshield Wipers to vaporize water and debris off the windshield:

A blower like at a car wash would be safer, but probably not battery efficient.

 

[JBee]

Forget laser, go ultrasonic to create a invisible film of water on the windscreen and use it together with a hydrophobic coating. Virtually no energy use and uniform removal that is assisted by air stream. Good for removing dirt as well in conjunction with a smart adjustable water nozzle that can aim for dirty patches.

Laser is good for many things, but unlikely to be seen anytime soon...and if you do, that will be the last thing you'll ever see!

 

[mrbulk]

Didn’t Tesla also recently patent some kind of sweeping electronic single blade wiper that went sideways across the windscreen or something like that? Then the CT’s wide flat windshield would be perfect for it.

 

[drtimhill]

Didn’t Tesla also recently patent some kind of sweeping electronic single blade wiper that went sideways across the windscreen or something like that? Then the CT’s wide flat windshield would be perfect for it.

I think the windshield should flip over 180 degrees every few seconds so it turns inside out .. it could then dump the rain water on the occupants thus cooling them and saving on power running the A/C.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

I think the windshield should flip over 180 degrees every few seconds so it turns inside out .. it could then dump the rain water on the occupants thus cooling them and saving on power running the A/C.

And it would clear the stuffy air, too.