Maserati M156 complete wiper-system development.

Developing a viable system within an evolving vehicle package

As is typical during quotation for a new vehicle program, the windshield surface and surrounding sheet-metal package were still evolving. Important package constraints and reference geometry were already established, while other features remained subject to development and negotiation.

Maserati provided the available windshield and sheet-metal geometry, together with a subsystem technical specification covering general and application-specific requirements, warranty targets, validation requirements, electrical information, commercial targets, program timing, and the occupant seating reference point used to establish the required wipe zones.

A senior engineer created the first rough system layout and helped direct detailed CAD work. I became directly involved before the proposal was submitted, owned the technical quotation, made the principal architecture and packaging decisions, and served as the customer-facing technical lead. The challenge was not simply that the vehicle package was continuing to mature; it was that the available space could not accommodate Trico's conventional motor and connector arrangements.

Fiat engineering worked with us on localized sheet-metal changes where reasonable. We adapted the wiper system where we could, identified the remaining conflicts, and worked collaboratively with the customer to converge the vehicle and system packages.

Parallel LHD and RHD systems built around one application motor

Trico supplied the integrated motor-and-linkage module, wiper arms, and blades. The left-hand-drive and right-hand-drive systems were developed concurrently. Each steering configuration required its own module package and mostly unique linkage components, while both used the same application-specific motor, motor orientation, 90-degree connector configuration, and motor shaft.

For a significant portion of the program, an additional engineer supported the work as an office anchor as needed, particularly while I was traveling extensively in Europe. He helped maintain day-to-day continuity and supported CAD, drawing, and release activity while I was away, but that support arrangement was not continuous for the entire program. Detailed CAD work was performed by CAD resources under engineering direction.

I remained Engineering Manager and lead development engineer, continued to make the principal technical decisions, led the Fiat customer interface, and performed direct development work throughout the program.

The viable package required challenging established motor-design practice

The available space required the wiper motor to be rotated approximately 90 degrees relative to the normal direction of linkage-arm action. That orientation was contrary to the motor group's preferred practice because the linkage loading created concerns involving worm-gear separation forces, output-shaft bending moment, bearing loads, and durability.

I did not dismiss those concerns, but the conventional package did not fit. I challenged the team to investigate the unconventional architecture rigorously rather than reject it by precedent. We completed as much finite-element and analytical work as practical around the motor package, and the motor group increased the shaft diameter to improve control of the bearing loads.

Both the LHD and RHD modules used the same motor orientation. The architecture then completed the normal motor-only and complete-system validation programs.

A 90-degree integrated connector made the vehicle harness route possible

Trico's normal integrated motor cover placed the electrical connector inline with the flat top surface of the cover. The M156 vehicle harness route required the connector direction to turn approximately 90 degrees. Nobody within Trico had previously implemented that orientation on this integrated cover architecture.

I defined and drove the required connector direction. CAD designers working for me, under the technical direction of our principal motor engineer, developed the detailed cover and conductor layout. The stamped copper traces had to be retained in the injection-molding tooling while stepping over and around adjacent tracks, maintaining electrical separation, and still allowing the plastic to flow between and encapsulate the conductors in a manufacturable part.

The result became Trico's first 90-degree integrated motor-cover connector orientation and was common to both M156 steering configurations.

A proven bookshelf technology was applied from the original quotation

Maserati's specification included explicit pedestrian head-impact requirements. The frangible-pivot architecture was therefore included in the original quotation and applied to both the LHD and RHD modules.

I had previously pioneered the thinner frangible cast-pivot design at Trico as a reusable bookshelf technology. We had established the critical break sections, developed the FEA loading method that predicted the required fracture behavior, and correlated the analytical results through physical load and impact testing. By the time M156 began, we could apply the design with a high level of confidence rather than reinventing the concept for this vehicle.

Explore the pedestrian-protection pivot patent and case study →

A 220 km/h requirement drove Trico's first full-vehicle 3D wiper CFD study

The M156 system had to maintain wipe performance at 220 km/h, compared with a more typical 165 km/h requirement. That was especially difficult with the large-section, highly styled arms, because the arm geometry itself contributed to aerodynamic lift.

Up to that point, Trico's CFD work had generally been limited to two-dimensional blade-profile cross sections. I initiated and led a full three-dimensional study incorporating the vehicle hood, windshield, A-pillars, roof, wiper arms, and blades. A specialist supplier performed the detailed model setup and analysis. I defined the scope, obtained competitive quotations, selected the supplier, interpreted the results, and made the subsequent product-design decisions.

The final arm section was rotated into the airflow and locally flattened so that part of the aerodynamic pressure acted more favorably in maintaining contact with the glass. I personally owned the arm design and engineering release. Trico's core blade-engineering group owned the detailed blade design, and I worked with that team to integrate the new-to-Trico top-lock blade interface into the complete vehicle system.

Higher torque, full durability, and one independent gear-material correction

The application required additional motor torque. The motor incorporated a fall-over diode strategy so that the high-speed stall characteristic transitioned toward the low-speed torque profile as load increased.

The motor and complete system underwent the normal wiper validation program, including motor-only durability testing. High-temperature stall testing initially produced gear stripping. That issue was independent of the 90-degree motor orientation; the motor group revised the gear material and successfully completed validation.

Motor, module, arms, and blades were manufactured at Trico Matamoros.

I became Trico's principal engineering interface with Fiat in Torino

I conducted nearly all of the customer technical reviews, bringing CAD, motor, blade, manufacturing, and other specialists into the meetings when their expertise was required. Before modern video-conferencing tools were common, we worked by telephone with shared-screen technical reviews. I also traveled to Italy approximately monthly, or at least every six weeks, during active development.

The time-zone difference required me to change my working pattern around the Fiat engineer's schedule. Moderate cultural and language barriers also had to be managed. More importantly, Fiat's design, validation, gate-review, and evidence expectations were unfamiliar because Trico had not previously held this business relationship.

I led the formal design-freeze presentation in Torino around September 2011, based on my best recollection. Fiat engineering reviewed and signed off after we presented a large technical- validation document and the supporting design evidence. Prototype, motor, aerodynamic, and validation development continued after the principal architecture was frozen.

My frequent European travel made continuity at the Trico office especially important. During a significant portion of the program, an additional engineer served as an office anchor as needed, coordinating CAD and drawing activity and helping maintain progress while I was meeting with customers and supporting European programs.

Ducato began while M156 was still in active development

Approximately six to eight months after M156 began, the Fiat Ducato program was also awarded to Trico. M156 had helped establish the technical credibility and customer relationship that led to that second award.

The overlap was substantial. I remained the M156 lead development engineer and Engineering Manager while assuming comparable responsibility for the Ducato program that later became the Ram ProMaster application. That workload intensified the resource challenge but also demonstrated that the team could support multiple Fiat-led international programs.

An on-time launch and a design foundation that extended beyond one vehicle

The complete LHD and RHD systems launched on time with the 2013 Maserati Quattroporte. No meaningful post-launch issues are known for the unconventional motor orientation, the 90-degree connector architecture, the pedestrian-protection pivots, the aerodynamic arm design, or the complete wiping system.

The M156 architecture also created value beyond the original vehicle. It was carried forward to the Maserati Ghibli M157 and materially influenced the later Levante M161 system. By the Levante program, I was Director of the engineering group; another engineer reporting to me held direct application-design responsibility while significant M156 design characteristics were retained.

M156 remains one of the defining accomplishments of my career: a low-probability pursuit won during an extremely difficult business period, followed by technically demanding international execution, an on-time production launch, and a platform of work that helped create additional Fiat and Maserati business.