Paralyzed race car driver will control car with head and mouth

Posted on 14-05-2014 at 15:41 by JordyS – 9 Comments”

Former driver Sam Schmidt has been around since 2000 paralyzed, but thanks to new technology, weather, driving. He need here only his head and mouth to move.

Schmidt is in a wheelchair after a heavy IndyCar crash at the Disney World Motor Speedway. He remained involved in the sport and runs, for some years, a private team. The more special is that he in may during the Indianapolis 500 will drive into the Stingray. Schmidt can his legs and arms don’t move, but cars can thanks to new technology from Arrow Electronics to control his head and tongue.

The principle is actually quite simple and should be there in the future to ensure that people with disabilities still able to drive a car. The Stingray is packed with infrared sensors, which monitor how the head of Schmidt moves: to the left or right to steer and back to gas. Thanks to a pressure sensor in his mouth, he can brake the vehicle.

The car is also externally monitored. Arrow builds via GPS, virtual walls at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which Schmidt, in theory, can not crash. Threatens still to go wrong, than can a co-driver and pitcrew intervention. Schmidt is the first to use the technique in public, but Arrow aims his system, eventually, street-legal car’s to implement.