Removing Water Droplets
Shutter is a hydrophobic camera lens add-on for GoPro that removes water droplets by using alternating magnetic fields. This functionality makes the product perfect for people who use the action camera to record aquatic and winter sports.
Working Principle
By applying a voltage between a droplet and an underlying electrode the pinning force of the water droplet can be modified. By leveraging this phenomena in combination with an array of transparent electrodes, the droplet can be displaced through coordinated activation of the electrodes. Transparent sub-surface electrodes have in recent years become more affordable due to their widespread use in capacitive touch screens.
This method for displacing droplets is today often applied in lab environments when developing new drugs or conducting microfluidic experiments. More information on the physics that makes this possible can be found here.
3D Printed Prototype
The prototype below was created using high resolution SLA printing.
