If you have driven a car, then you are well aware that the blind spots have always been an issue for the drivers. A cyclist or pedestrian might be under the impression that the driver of a car has seen them, but if they are overlapping the blind spots of the car, then the driver won’t be able to spot them, and it is this that causes a lot of accidents today.
The majority of the new cars have blind-spot detection known as Blind Spot Information System. The sensor device determines the position of other vehicles, pedestrians, or cyclists that the driver would not have been able to spot and then delivers a warning to the system. These warnings can either be visual, vibrational, or audible.
Meet a 14-year-old girl Alaina Gassler who hails from West Grove, Pennsylvania. She came up with a new invention that can be used inside the cars for the sake of tackling blind spots. Alaina took part in the Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars) competition for middle schoolers that was organized by the Society for the Science and the Public.
Her project was titled ‘Improving Automobile Safety by Removing Blind Spots.’ She explained the project by saying, ‘I did that by having a camera behind the a-pillar of a car, and the camera sent the video to a projector that projected the image onto the pillar, essentially making it invisible and making the driver see behind it.’ She has only made use of a camera, a 3D printer, a projector, and a retro-reflective fabric. The 3D printer was used to print a special part for helping to focus the project at close ranges, and the retro-reflective fabric was used for fixing the issues with the projection of the image on the interior frame since the image was blurry for other passengers in the car other than the driver.
Alaina Gassler was able to rank in the highest place in the nationwide competition, and she was able to win the $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize for her amazing invention.