Custom Built Corvette Enables Paralyzed Driver to Hit the Track (Torque Tuesday Presented by Continental ExtremeContact DWS^{06 Plus})

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Semi-autonomous motorcar (SAM) C8 Corvette uses amazing state-of-the-art technology to control the car, offers opportunities for future applications.

Sam Schmidt is a man who truly embodies the spirit of the Chevy Corvette. He is resilient, irrepressible, rebellious, and driven. It was Schmidt’s unshakable passion to go fast and go further that inspired the Semi-Autonomous Motorcar (SAM) Corvette. Following a devastating crash in 2000, Schmidt was left paralyzed from the neck down. But the passionate race car driver and enthusiast never gave up. He had the will, and Arrow Electronics had the way.

Recently the Arrow SAM C8 Corvette hopped the pond to attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed. With Schmidt in the drivers seat (where he belongs) he delivered pure and powerful Corvette performance. Assisting Schmidt is a remarkable suite of innovative technology that expands accessibility and mobility.

Sam Schmidt turned his love for fast cars and racing into a career as a professional race car driver. By 1999, Schmidt was at the top of his game as as IndyCar champion. But that changed a few months later with Schmidt crashed during a practice lap. With critical damage to his spinal cord, he was diagnosed as a quadriplegic.

Schmidt continued on to great success as founder of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports–now Arrow McLaren SP. Yes, that McLaren. Arrow McLaren SP has won 12 IndyCar races. But he still missed the feeling of being behind the wheel.

Arrow Electronics and Schmidt joined forces in 2013 to get Sam back on the track. Arrow had some ground-breaking ideas and the technology to allow a person with disabilities to pilot a car using head and mouth controls.

Their first semi-autonomous motorcar (SAM) Corvette was a C7 Corvette Z06; and it was a huge success. Wanting to push the limits of possibility–and experience the mid-engine C8 Corvette–Arrow took on the challenge.

Arrow’s SAM Corvette has utilized some of the most creative and brilliant technologies to allow Schmidt to take the wheel.

Schmidt wears sunglasses and helmet studded with reflective sensors that interact with infrared cameras mounted to the windshield. These cameras direct infrared beams toward his head, reflect off the sensors, and return to the camera.

To steer the car, Schmidt looks in the direction he wants to go. Then, the processor translates the data from the camera and sensors to a rotary actuator on the steering wheel. Motion is tracked by infrared cameras mounted on the dashboard, detecting and reading head movements. It allows the car’s computer to calculate the angle of reflection then the directional information is sent to the wheels.

Schmidt finds this head turning system is so responsive that he can drive on almost any road or track.

A “sip-and-puff” pressure sensor allows the driver to accelerate and brake by inhaling and exhaling. The car responds directly via a rotary actuator attached to the gas pedal; depressed based on the amount of air pressure Schmidt. With full control over acceleration, Schmidt can employ his race-honed chops. Schmidt gets to enjoy the full spectrum of the C8 Corvette performance from smooth to savage; savoring all the potency and agility that defines the Chevy Corvette.

For safety, Schmidt has a co-driver onboard ready to take control of the wheel. He has taken his new SAM Corvette on many tracks, hit top speeds over 200 miles-per-hour, and demonstrated that while he may pilot his ‘Vette differently, he is always pushing it to get maximum output.

But the SAM Corvette gives Schmidt freedom. Simply being able to drive and experience the feeling of a Corvette was huge to Schmidt. Arrow also enabled him to walk his daughter down the aisle in a specially-designed exoskeleton called the Semi-Automatous (SAM) Suit.

“What I didn’t anticipate was this overwhelming feeling of normalcy because I was in control,” he told Retuers. “The fact that I’m steering it, I’m using the brake and the gas and going as fast as I want, is exhilarating. So, it’s fantastic.”

IndyCar team owner Sam Schmidt can control this Corvette C8 using only his head, thanks to some amazing high-tech modifications by Arrow Electronics! #FOS pic.twitter.com/52NLaFXCRl

— Goodwood Road&Racing (@GoodwoodRRC) July 9, 2021

It all started with Sam Schmidt and his passion to drive a Corvette again. What transpired was an incredible accomplishment for mobility. Arrow actualized Schmidt’s C8 Corvette, and opened the door of possibility for a host of other applications. The SAM Corvette embodies the power of man and machine working as one.

Photos: Chevrolet; Reuters; Goodwood

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