Arrow Electronics SAM Car to be Displayed at Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History July 24-26
Arrow Electronics SAM car will be on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History on July 24-26 to mark the 25thanniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act.
SAM stands for Semi-Autonomous Motorcar. Arrow’s SAM car is one of the most impactful and innovative technology projects on behalf of people with disabilities ever undertaken. Arrow and its partners have modified a 2014 Corvette Stingray so that a quadriplegic former race car driver could safely drive again by controlling the vehicle only with his head.
In 2014, former IndyCar racer Sam Schmidt drove 107 mph in laps at the Indy 500. This year, Arrow has further modified the vehicle so Schmidt can drive more complex road courses. In April, he successfully completed a lap at the Long Beach Grand Prix. In June, he drove 10 laps at the 3-mile, 20-turn Circuit of the Americas track near Austin with a top speed of 105 mph.
The Arrow SAM car will be on display for the Smithsonian’s “Festival ADA: 25 Years of Disabilities Rights.” In addition to Arrow’s SAM car, the festival will include a discussion stage, a film festival and an exhibit of disability –related innovations and historic artifacts.
President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law on July 26th, 1990, capping decades of legal efforts and activism to end discrimination against people with disabilities. The Smithsonian is partnering with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts in producing a range of activities to mark this historic moment and highlight the ADA’s on-going legacy in American life. All events are at the National Museum of American History, free, and accessible. Exhibit hours subject to change, for updates visit http://americanhistory.si.edu/visit/hours.
