But that is Mercedes-Benz, a company that is already known for being able to design a car. The “cybertruck” looks like it was designed by a ten year old, and, as the wiper shows, not actually smartly executed.
The wipers on the mercedes work better than two blade setups as well. You don’t get that trailing line of water off the tip of the wiper right in the center of your view because the one blade extends all the way to the edge, all the way across.
I have a 93 Mercedes with this system and I love showing off the wiper. Its unexpected motion brings joy to both mechanical nerds and regular people. No joke, people see it and can’t help but grin. It’s that perfect combination where it looks odd but also is immediately recognizable as clearly superior.
Must have been patents that kept it from catching on?
As a car nerd, I think it’s really cool. I’d smile seeing one in action.
As a car owner, I wouldn’t want one. There are enough things to go wrong on cars as it is. I want something simple that works, not one more thing that might cost me money or ruin my weekend.
It works for Mercedes because their target market (in the US anyway) buys a new car every couple years, and isn’t put off by over engineering.
Surprisingly it’s been wiping since 93 with no issues! Unless it was changed by a previous owner. I should probably take it apart and repack the gearbox at this point, though. It slows down quite a bit if the windshield isn’t wet enough, implying there’s some drag in the system.
Back in the early 90s Mercedes were a lot different from how they are today, that car is put together so well that those old diesels are considered a true million mile car. Lots of things on it are really easy to take apart and maintain, too.
The only thing really failing on it is the paint which is cracked all to hell, and I’m honestly considering getting a repaint since there are only 200k miles on it. It helps that I’m friends with a body man/painter who can do it in his garage for a fraction of the cost.
I agree with keeping things simple, because more things mean more chance of failure, which eventually just becomes a matter of how frequently over time. However, this is a pretty simple design. It’s a clever use of simple mechanisms. From the gif above, it’s an extra gear with a linear actuator attached. It’s not doing anything complex other than just cycling the actuator twice over the course of the full half circle –or four times a cross the entire gear if it could go all the way around. This is probably not going to be the thing that breaks, and even if it is it’s probably easily replaceable (if it became common so the parts are available).
Benz did it better with one
Oh cool.
More footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSC9KrQYaW4
But that is Mercedes-Benz, a company that is already known for being able to design a car. The “cybertruck” looks like it was designed by a ten year old, and, as the wiper shows, not actually smartly executed.
The wipers on the mercedes work better than two blade setups as well. You don’t get that trailing line of water off the tip of the wiper right in the center of your view because the one blade extends all the way to the edge, all the way across.
I’m not a mechanical engineer but I’m still getting hot and bothered watching that. What a cool design!
I have a 93 Mercedes with this system and I love showing off the wiper. Its unexpected motion brings joy to both mechanical nerds and regular people. No joke, people see it and can’t help but grin. It’s that perfect combination where it looks odd but also is immediately recognizable as clearly superior.
Must have been patents that kept it from catching on?
As a car nerd, I think it’s really cool. I’d smile seeing one in action.
As a car owner, I wouldn’t want one. There are enough things to go wrong on cars as it is. I want something simple that works, not one more thing that might cost me money or ruin my weekend.
It works for Mercedes because their target market (in the US anyway) buys a new car every couple years, and isn’t put off by over engineering.
Surprisingly it’s been wiping since 93 with no issues! Unless it was changed by a previous owner. I should probably take it apart and repack the gearbox at this point, though. It slows down quite a bit if the windshield isn’t wet enough, implying there’s some drag in the system.
Back in the early 90s Mercedes were a lot different from how they are today, that car is put together so well that those old diesels are considered a true million mile car. Lots of things on it are really easy to take apart and maintain, too.
The only thing really failing on it is the paint which is cracked all to hell, and I’m honestly considering getting a repaint since there are only 200k miles on it. It helps that I’m friends with a body man/painter who can do it in his garage for a fraction of the cost.
I agree with keeping things simple, because more things mean more chance of failure, which eventually just becomes a matter of how frequently over time. However, this is a pretty simple design. It’s a clever use of simple mechanisms. From the gif above, it’s an extra gear with a linear actuator attached. It’s not doing anything complex other than just cycling the actuator twice over the course of the full half circle –or four times a cross the entire gear if it could go all the way around. This is probably not going to be the thing that breaks, and even if it is it’s probably easily replaceable (if it became common so the parts are available).
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Mercedes is often at the forefront of new car tech. It doesn’t always catch on, though.
This is very pleasing
I like the cyber truck wiper better. It looks perfectly functional, and I’m not a huge fan of the German overengineering.
Side note, I love Toyota, but the FJ cruiser’s windshield wipers are stupid.