Here’s How a Paralyzed Race Driver Completed the Goodwood Hill Climb

The former Indy Racing League participant Sam Schmidt successfully achieved the iconic hill climb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

This year, Arrow displayed its newly developed Semi-Autonomous Mobility (SAM) Car and SAM Suit that expresses how technology can provide freedom and choice for individuals with a disability.

Schmidt Continues Reigning the Race Tracks

Sam Schmidt, a former Indy Racing League participant, continues to pioneer accessible driving technologies. It was the first time the feature was used in the UK event when the co-owner of the Arrow McLaren SP team completed the iconic hill climb at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed using just his head motions and breathing. Schmidt used infrared cameras installed by Arrow Electronics in a McLaren 720S Spider to monitor his head. He used a 'sip-and-puff' mechanism to inhale and exhale to regulate the vehicle's speed and brakes. The racer also donned the SAM Suit, a semi-autonomous exoskeleton that aids walking.

After experiencing a terrible accident during training that left him a quadriplegic in 2000, Sam Schmidt is not your typical racing car driver. Now, he is the first American to possess a driving license that enables him to operate an autonomous car on public roads. According to a Nevadan government announcement, Schmidt can drive a customized Corvette Stingray Z06 with just his head movement, breath, and verbal orders.

Schmidt suffered a spinal cord injury after a practice lap collision, rendering him a quadriplegic. In 2014, he collaborated with Arrow to drive a Corvette using a mix of head tracking, sip-and-puff, and voice commands. The race driver has long been an advocate for paralysis therapy. Using a Corvette to drive in Nevada, he made history in 2016 by being the first American with a license to utilize an autonomous car on a highway.

Arrow Shows Off SAM Car, SAM Suit in Goodwood Festival of Speed

The 2021 McLaren 720S Spider sports was adapted by Arrow so that Schmidt could operate the vehicle with just his head. Arrow also displayed a prototype face recognition steering system for the Semi-Autonomous Mobility (SAM) Car that is in development and has already been tested at low speeds at the Future Lab at the Festival of Speed.

The Arrow SAM Suit is another piece of equipment that Arrow developed to increase Schmidt's mobility. The SAM Suit enhances current exoskeleton technology with extensions to support Schmidt's torso, arms, and lower extremities. It results from a partnership between Arrow and robotic engineering researchers at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee). The SAM Suit is an element of the technological strategy used to create the Arrow SAM Car, showing how technology can provide individuals with disabilities freedom and choice.

It's not precisely apparent what functions Arrow's technology may play in the future, even while alternative mobility solutions can restore some level of autonomy to persons who can no longer operate a car for various reasons. We've contacted the business to ask for more information on where it sees initiatives like the SAM going. Arrow will also be competing with self-driving technology, which is now available on public roads at Level 3 autonomy and is moving closer to being a realistic reality. With that being said, it will take time for fully autonomous vehicles (Level 5 autonomy) to become a reality.