SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the now-why-didn't-I-think-of-that? dept.
Submitted via IRC for soylent_yellow
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: 3, Interesting) by Username on Sunday November 03 2019, @12:23PM (1 child)
This is the first time seeing a story like this without feminist hyperbole. Usually it would be something like, "This girl overcame the odds and beatout oppressive males for the top prize, and this is HER story." It's kind of nice.
(Score: 2) by Rich on Sunday November 03 2019, @02:41PM
The green site ran the same story. And another one of a girl inventor. My bets would be on someone pushing agenda with the submissions anyway, despite them being decently worded. The really interesting part is that the submitter was named "soylent_yellow", which leads to the conclusion that even our tiny community is already being specifically targeted.
Not that I'd have any interesting news to submit to change that for the better, except maybe "Ask Soylent: How can nerds motivate themselves to do something useful instead of wasting time with forum posts on socio-political issues?"
All that said, hats off to the chick for any kind of interesting tinkering. And being really novel is about luck. Whenever you have that "Eureka!" moment, likely many others have had it before...