Whether you remember it or not, Sam Schmidt was the victim of a horrible Indy Car Accident several years ago. Rather than rest on his laurels, Sam founded a racing team of his own and became the owner and has enjoyed some amazing success along the way. Even though Sam hasn’t been able to drive a car of his own for quite some time he has reveled in the excitement of watching his team on the track and developing new technology for driving all the while hoping he might one day be able to get behind the wheel of his own car once again.
Arrow Electronics has developed the technology and all the equipment needed to allow Sam Schmidt to be able to drive once again. Sam isn’t your typical disabled person, he’s actually paralyzed from the neck down, leaving motion only in his head and neck, which makes this challenge and the fact that he will be able to drive again all that more impressive. With the tech that Arrow came up with Schmidt will once again be behind the wheel of a car and his car of choice is a 2014 C7 Corvette which has been modified with some amazing tech.
This car has a number of sensors and cameras, even putting sensors in Sam’s hat to help read his movements. There is a sensor he has to keep in his mouth and one for the back of his head as well. All these items help to determine how Sam wants the car to drive. With leans and turns of his head the car will make turns and the degree and angle of his head will control the amount of turn that is made. A tilt backwards of his head and the car will accelerate and a press down with his teeth on the sensor in his mouth and he can apply the brakes.
The controls of this car are pretty amazing but so is the response time of all the equipment and the fact that the GPS system of the car is able to pinpoint where the car is to within five inches. Add to this the fact that the car will take over when Sam heads toward the line and might end up in the lane of oncoming traffic. All this work and some practice by Sam have made Sam the first person to receive a semi-autonomous driving license from the Nevada DMV.
What’s next for this amazing technology and Mr. Schmidt? Certainly Sam will enjoy the fun of driving his Corvette on the roads around him and at some of the tracks that his Indy team will travel to, but Arrow Electronics and Sam are working together to try and bring this technology to the market within five years to give us driving potential for others who are paralyzed in this same way. Check out this ESPN Sports Science video and see how amazing this new Corvette and its awesome driver are.
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