Geyser Self-Cleaning Windshield
As always a number of interesting prototypes showed up at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show including a sleek, futuristic beauty from Italian designer Leonardo Fioravanti (of Pininfarina fame.) This five-door, four-seater, however, is being looked at not so much for what it offers as for what it doesn’t have — windshield wipers.
Thanks to an innovative four-layer system called Geyser, the Hidra is on the cutting edge of glass cleaning technology. The car’s superior aerodynamics certainly help with the business of deflecting grime, but the real magic occurs at the molecular level in the windshield where nanotechnology is hard at work. Here’s how the four layers function together:
Layer 1: Based on the use of titanium dioxide, the initial layer provides ultraviolet protection and distributes accumulated water evenly across the surface, an ability described as hydrophobic.
Layer 2: Here, nano-dust particles move accumulated debris to the edges of the windshield to be blown away by small, embedded nozzles.
Layer 3: This is a monitoring layer that looks for the presence of dirt and activates the second layer when it needs to go to work.
Layer 4: The final layer, with the ability to conduct electricity, provides the power for the system’s entire functioning.
The Geyser system, by insuring maximum visibility, makes driving safer and creates the potential for multiple design form factors by eliminating the need to fit wipers on to the windshield. The Hidra’s windshield is fully functional and the designer predict the Geyser system will be ready for mass production in the next five years.