By Hilary Weaver on May 21, 2014 in Innovation
How infrared technology can help people with disabilities regain mobility.
Sam Schmidt has become the official tester for leading innovations in race car design. And all he has to do is shake his head.
Before a collision in January of 2000 that left him paralyzed from the neck down, Schmidt was a driver for the 27 Indy Racing League. After his accident, the former driver wanted to help others find a love for the sport with his own racing league, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In late 2013, innovators at Arrow Electronics approached him about a project that would allow him to return to his space behind the wheel.
Arrow created a 2014 Corvette Stingray C7, what the tech company calls a “semi-autonomous motorcar” that allows paraplegics and quadriplegics like Schmidt to operate a vehicle around the racetrack with simple head and mouth movements.
The SAM car, which will debut at the 2014 Indianapolis 500 Festival with Schmidt as its driver, features infrared sensors and cameras that can measure the movements of the driver. Schmidt wears a hat with infrared sensors that pick up his movements.
For example, when Schmidt wants to steer his car left or right, he moves his head in that direction. Infrared cameras pick up these movements and steer the car accordingly. To accelerate, he leans his head back, and to brake, he bites down on a pressure sensor in his mouth.
Additionally, the car’s built-in GPS creates what Arrow refers to as a virtual curb and warns the driver when the car edges one meter away. If the driver makes an error, an engineer is immediately notified and can remotely control the car.
Arrow says that these innovations are not specific to race cars and can one day be applied to consumer vehicles.
Source: Wired
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