The SAM Project: A Very Special Car

Sam Schmidt drives a 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  [Mark Walczak Photo]

Back in 1905, Indianapolis businessman Carl Fisher wondered out loud why European automobile manufacturers had the upper hand over cars coming out of the nascent American auto industry.

With his native Indiana, and especially his hometown of Indianapolis, having dozens of auto manufacturers and suppliers at that time, Fisher decided to do something that would help those companies develop and test their vehicles and compete with the Europeans.

“Indianapolis is going to be the greatest center of horseless carriage manufacturing,” Fisher announced. “What could be more logical than to build the greatest racetrack right here?

And so it was last Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that Sam Schmidt and a large group of engineers unveiled some automotive developments that would have made Carl Fisher proud.

Schmidt, a former Indy car race driver, became a quadriplegic after suffering life-changing injuries in a crash at Walt Disney World Speedway in 2000.

With his driving career at an end, Schmidt used his master’s degree in international finance to form Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and compete in the IndyCar Series beginning in 2001.

“Racing has been a dream of mine since I was five years old,” said Schmidt. “I thought I’d never be able to race again after my accident, but this vehicle made it possible.”

“This vehicle,” which Schmidt drove around the Speedway Sunday on a simulated four-lap qualifying run, is a 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray that was modified at the team’s racing facility in Indianapolis and is dubbed the “SAM Project” meaning “Semi-Autonomous Motorcar.”

Schmidt drove the car at speeds up to 100mph while tilting his head to steer or change speed and using a pressure sensor in his mouth to slow down or stop.

According to Chakib Loucif, the vice president of engineering at partner Arrow Electronics, “We used sophisticated equipment available in the industry today. This (project) came together with Sam with two aspects: giving Sam the ability to get back to driving and how to leverage the technology and push it to the edge.

“Sam has only the capacity (to move) from the neck up. We enable Sam to interact with the vehicle.”

The Corvette features an infrared camera system that detects Schmidt’s head motions in order to steer and accelerate, a bite sensor to slow down or brake and a GPS system to keep the car within 1.5 meters from the edge of the track. Schmidt has a width of approximately 10 meters in which to steer.

Besides owning a successful Verizon IndyCar Series team, Schmidt also heads the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation which is dedicated to curing paralysis by funding scientific research, medical treatment and rehabilitation advances.

“The most amazing part of this thing is that this is a 75 or 100-year old problem and these people got together and solved a problem in nine months,” explained Schmidt.

Other groups which were instrumental in the project’s research and development include: Bell Aerospace and Technology, Air Force Research Laboratory and Falci Adaptive Motorsports.

And while other types of autonomous vehicles exist today in various forms, a race car for individuals paralyzed from the waist down did not exist until this project came to be. The SAM Project’s goal isn’t to turn control of a car over to technology, but rather to allow disabled drivers like Schmidt to enjoy the driving experience by leveraging the power of technology.

“Hopefully this technology will apply to a lot of other technologies and help a lot of other people, “Schmidt explained. “(The speed) I crossed the bricks on my last lap at 100mph- that was the goal; (I can) check that off my list.

“I’m inspired by this project; it’s re-energized me to see if we can find a cure for paralysis in my lifetime.”

And that’s Schmidt’s most important race.

Related Posts

• 
  Sebring 2024
• 
  Giuseppe Victorious
• 
  Car or Driver