Racing car "SAM" which can drive with movement of the head and can drive even if the body is impaired

The project that the former racing driver who got lost the freedom of the body with accidental accident and became in a state not even keep walking even getting on the racing car again to drive the circuit "SAM Project"Is progressing, and we are planning to actually run the circuit at the Indy 500 (Indy 500), the largest car race in the US, held on May 25, 2014.

Arrow SAM Project
http://www.arrowsamcar.com/

The base machine isChevrolet · CorvetteIt is a model based on type C7 announced in 2014.


Although the car body seems not to have changed largely from the normal state, many technologies are put in that "brain".


For drivers who have difficulty in driving due to their lack of mobility, SAM is able to drive mainly by reading the movement of the driver's head. When a driver wearing a dedicated cap fitted with a tip for infrared reflection moves the head, the infrared camera installed in front of you reads the movement and sends a signal to the processor that performs the control process.


After receiving the signal from the camera, the central processor translates the driver's will and tells the machine. The GPS receiver attached to the car body can measure the position 100 times per second, it will detect the danger such as a course out and lead the machine to a safe state when necessary.


Since the operating system of the machine is common with the usual body, the signal sent from the central processor is transmitted to the motors of each part, and it is actually a mechanism to operate handle, accelerator and brake.


The head movement necessary for driving is as follows. If you tilt the head to the left or right, the steering wheel turns left and right, and the accelerator is depressed by sliding backward. The brake operates with the sensor put in the mouth gently and gently.


This machine was developed by a development team focusing on Arrow, an industrial electronic parts manufacturer. He is involved in the development of space equipments and other membersBall Aerospace & TechnologiesYaLight · Patterson Air Force BaseThe research laboratory of the company has a lot of names.


And this man who fits in the seat is Mr. Sam Schmidt who is in charge of driving the machine. In the past it can also be counted as "the world's three biggest car races"Indy 500It is a former professional racing driver who sometimes ran the top.


Mr. Sam Schmidt, born in Nebraska in 1964, is unusual for racing drivers, owner of a different color career, former businessman. Schmidt was a semi-amateur level race who had a record of success in the business world after graduating from college, but his biggest goal was to participate in Indy 500, one of America's biggest races .

After that, Mr. Schmidt steadily accumulated a career as a racing driver, in 1995, participating in popular stock car series in America and starting a career as a professional driver. It was a late debut with 31 years of age already, but I closed the professional first season with 3rd ranking and received the rookie of the year award for the newcomer of that year.

ByRoger blake

And in 1997, America's Formula Car Racing highest peak "Indy Racing League(IRL) "(CurrentIndyCarParticipate in "). And in that year I will play a part of my hopeful Indy 500. In 1999, we will have a peak in career. In the Indy 500 which was the stage of a dream, she showed the fastest running for the first time and won the first place in qualifying in the race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the tenth round of the series. Mr. Schmidt, who started from the pole position for the first time in his career, kept the same race as it was and won his first victory with "Paul to Win".

ByMomentcaptured1

Mr. Schmidt finished fifth in the same year ranking, but his first victory is Mr. Schmidt 's first and final victory. Mr. Schmidt crashes in the test that was held before the opening of the next year in 2000. Mr. Schmidt carried to the hospital suffered serious injuries that required a mechanical ventilator for 5 weeks. Mr. Schmidt who survived from the crash was left in the limbs of the body due to the accident, and it became a condition not to be able to walk, not to mention driving a racing car.

Still, Mr. Schmidt, who could not give up his passion for racing, is also the owner of the Williams F1 Team who is active at the forefront of the F1 series, while holding a handicap in the body due to the accident,Frank WilliamsUnder the influence of Mr., about a year after the accident in 2001 the company's own racing team "Sam Schmidt MotorsportsPresentSchmidt Peterson Motorsports) "Has been launched, and continues to be active in the American racing world until now. The image on the left is Mr. Schmidt and the right was enrolled in the team in the pastAlex Tagliani.

ByWikipedia

Up to now, I lost both feet due to the accident that occurred at the time of the remaining 16 laps to the goalAlessandro ZanardiAlthough there was an episode that he got into a special machine in the year after the accident and ran for the remaining laps in the race of the previous year, the driver who lost the freedom of limbs again runs the circuit is an unprecedented attempt is.

Mr. Schmidt will board the SAM and plan to drive the course four laps on the day of the Indy 500 to be held on May 25, 2014. Also in the same race from Schmidt's team, he is the former Indy 500 champion and F1 championJacques VilleneuveHas announced participation in the main battle, and it seems to be an attention-oriented event.