Cars are built on a production line, using specialist robots, to very tight geometrical tolerances.
It seems odd to me that we still have car washes which are not unlike those built in the 1960s. These are known for mistreating the paintwork, aerials, and spoilers of cars.
Today’s invention is to use an industrial robot in a carwash. Entering your registration number would allow the machine to understand all of the geometry of your vehicle. Or perhaps you’d prefer to have the robot scan in the surface detail of your personalised car?
In either case, a robot arm equipped with cameras could assess the level and type of grime, panel by panel and apply the best combination of cleaning techniques and agents. This system would be more expensive than conventional kit, but would attract more customers by providing a factory-perfect finish.
This would happen within a couple of minutes, much faster, gentler and more precise than in an old fashioned carwash.
It might even be possible to apply this approach to valeting the interior and to washing the salt etc from the undersides of vehicles.