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14-Year-Old Genius Solves Blind Spots
Using some relatively inexpensive and readily available technology you can find at any well-stocked electronics store, Alaina Gassler, a 14-year-old inventor from West Grove, Pennsylvania, came up with a clever way to eliminate the blind spot created by the thick pillars on the side of a car's windshield.
Gassler's actually too young to have a driver's license in most states and has never experienced the frustration of trying to see around those pillars while driving, but that didn't stop her from tackling a problem that automakers have largely ignored. Her solution involves installing an outward-facing webcam on the outside of a vehicle's windshield pillar, and then projecting a live feed from that camera onto the inside of that pillar. Custom 3D-printed parts allowed her to perfectly align the projected image so that it seamlessly blends with what a driver sees through the passenger window and the windshield, essentially making the pillar invisible.
Her invention was part of a project called "Improving Automobile Safety by Removing Blind Spots," which Gassler presented at this year's Society for Science and the Public's Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars) science and engineering competition. (It's basically a next-level science fair minus the cheesy papier-mâché volcanoes.) Her ingenuity was enough to earn her the competition's top honor, the Samueli Foundation Prize, which also netted Gassler $25,000.
A YouTube video of this invention in use is available.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Sunday November 03 2019, @08:21AM (3 children)
Hey, for people fussing about the colors and the wobbly projection: As an 8th grade science project, this is pretty awesome. Nice idea, good execution.
The pillars really are getting out of hand. They're not just structural - in some vehicles the front pillars also contain airbags [caranddriver.com]. Which you will need when you crash into something you couldn't see, because the damned pillar was blocking your view.
I was in a rented vehicle yesterday, and the interior rear view mirror was essentially useless. It wasn't (only) the fat rear pillars: three headrests across the back, and you could see basically nothing to the rear. I understand that headrests are important, but if you rarely carry rear passengers, maybe they could make the things fully retract into the seat back?
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 03 2019, @09:41AM
I, for one, questioned the color. It wasn't a complaint, so much as an honest question. The results would have been respectable for any adult - that a teenager did this is impressive. More time, more money, more research, she may have done a better job. But, as I have already observed, her results were better than Jaguar's offerings from several years ago.
Regarding those rear seat headrests, yes they can make them retractable. The ones in my Trailblazer must retract for the seats to fold down, for cargo. When I put the seats up, I just leave those headrests retracted. No one rides back there, and if they ever do, they can raise the headrests up if they want them.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by darkfeline on Sunday November 03 2019, @09:44AM
99.9% of impressive kid's science projects are done by the parents. If she actually did it, then pretty cool. But forgive me if I think her parent built this so their kid gets a shiny item to put on her college application. The more likely scenario deserves derision not praise.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by danmars on Monday November 04 2019, @04:45PM
My car (Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross) does let you fully lower the rear headrests to the level of the top of the rear seat if they are not being used. The difficulties are the rear-seat passengers complaining/struggling when putting the headrests up, and failing to lower them back down.