Alexandria, Virginia — The United States Patent Office has published Tesla’s patent for laser windshield wipers, which the EV automaker applied for in May 2019.
The patent describes how Tesla’s laser windshield wipers would work in five steps:
- Detect debris accumulated on a region on glass article installed in vehicle
- Calibrate a set of parameters associated with laser beam emitted from beam optics assembly, based on detection of debris accumulated on a region on glass article
- Control exposure level of laser beam on detected debris accumulated on glass article based on calibration of set of parameters associated with laser beam
- Irradiate region associated with the detected debris on glass article by laser beam
- Remove detected debris accumulated on region by laser beam
The system, it appears, would not operate autonomously or be prompted by vehicle tech. Instead, Tesla imagines the driver operating the beams manually, via a joystick or touch screen of the car.
The U.S. Patent Office approved the patent in late 2021.
Do you think this technology will ever take off? Let us know in the comments.
