Ready to learn more about IoT technology? The Internet of Things is a broadly defined new concept that is getting significant attention. But, what is it? As a basic definition, it is connecting disparate “things” to communicate together to improve people, processes, and business.
Internet of Things Technology
Video courtesy of Arrow Electronics
Arrow Electronics, a company that focuses on machine to machine intelligence, helped a quadriplegic race car driver complete qualifying laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway using the Internet of Things technology.
The Internet of Things is a broadly defined new concept that is getting significant attention. But, what is it? As a basic definition, it is connecting disparate “things” to communicate together to improve people, processes, and business.
Real World Example
Arrow Electronics' CEO, Mike Long, set a goal for the company in June 2013 to have an experimental car ready for the 2014 Indy 500. Then the idea came: Why not modify a Corvette so it could be driven by a person with quadriplegia. Arrow Engineers got together with the Craig Rehabilitation Hospital and Ball Aerospace to brainstorm how to create a “working human-machine interface”. Not too long after, SAM (Semi-Autonomous Motorcar) was created.
The next step was to find someone to drive the car. Before long, Joe Verrengia, director of corporate responsibility, found Sam Schmidt. Schmidt was a successful Indy-car owner and former driver, who because of a crash during off-season testing is now a quadriplegic. Schmidt's response to the request: “Make sure the car can go faster than 100 mph”.
The IoT
SAM is a great example of the broadly defined Internet of Things. It has sensors, infrared cameras, actuators and GPS transceivers that all work together to allow Schmidt to drive. The steering was the tricky part. Schmidt only had the ability to move his head, this presented quite the challenge for engineers.
Engineers at Ball Aerospace took the challenge head-on and designed a computer to convert the driver's head movements into code that translated to the computer when to speed up, steer and slow down the car. The Ball website describes it as “An infrared camera mounted in the car, and sensors placed on headgear worn by Sam tracked the angle and movements of his head; a bite-sensor device brakes the car when he bites down.” The engineers programmed the computer to ignore a list of certain head movements including sneezing. Schmidt also had a co-pilot who could take over if needed.
Interested in the Internet of Things? Wonder how you can utilize it using your existing infrastructure, devices, and processes? Join Oakwood and Saint Louis University for a complimentary event on the Internet of Things for Retail, Manufacturing, and Healthcare
Arrow Electronics, Ball Aerospace and the Indy 500 are not affiliated with Oakwood Systems Group.
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