Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Transportation Education Technology The 2000 Beanies

14-Year-Old Inventor Solves Blind Spots (gizmodo.com) 125

Posted by BeauHD from the life-saving-tech dept.
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. All it requires is some relatively inexpensive and readily available tech available at an electronics store. Gizmodo reports: 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.

Gassler's invention isn't quite ready to be installed in vehicles across the country just yet, but the technologies already exist that would allow it to be implemented in cars without serving as a distraction to the driver. Short-throw projectors could be installed at the base of the passenger side windshield pillar to create the image without having to worry about the passenger blocking the beam. And many cars have already replaced side mirrors with cameras, or include nearly invisible cameras in the rear for safely backing up, so adding one more on the side of the pillar would presumably be trivial. Gassler won the top prize for her invention 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.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

14-Year-Old Inventor Solves Blind Spots More

14-Year-Old Inventor Solves Blind Spots

Comments Filter:

  • Is there eye tracking?

    • Re: (Score:1, Flamebait)

      by _Sharp'r_ ( 649297 )

      It'd take about 30 seconds to come up with something much lower cost [slashdot.org] than multiple active video systems which would work better than this idea.

      A lenticular lense [popsci.com] is plenty to see around a pillar. You just need to know if something is there, not all the details, so it's sufficient to the task.

      • A lenticular lense is plenty to see around a pillar. You just need to know if something is there, not all the details, so it's sufficient to the task.

        Such a lens would also project sunlight into your car in odd ways that might well blind you unexpectedly. I suppose that could be mitigated with photochromic pigment in the lens, but then it's not going to work well when it's sunny.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Also, nausea. You're going to induce motion sickness in people who aren't the driver.

  • BeauHD pls stahp (Score:5, Informative)

    by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Friday November 01, 2019 @08:41PM (#59371528) Homepage Journal

    The auto industry already has had prototypes of this kind of thing for a bunch of years.

  • It's a great idea (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Pikoro ( 844299 ) <init@@@init...sh> on Friday November 01, 2019 @08:41PM (#59371530) Homepage Journal

    Unfortunately, it doesn't take into account that it only works from that exact eye point. Move your head a bit and it stops working as it should.

    Still, better than the current solution of jerking your head back and forth to see what's behind the pillar.

    • That's not where the blind spot is. How is this a good idea?

      • When you're rounding a blind corner, it cuts several degrees out of your field of view (on both sides of the car; driver's side gets more view blocked, but more easily overcome with head movement), at a time when it would be beneficial to have visibility there.
    • Frankly, I like the pillars to be somewhat large, as they provide additional sun blocking (and for really no other reason). Now, I can see how someone with a stiff neck (or otherwise reduced mobility) might benefit greatly from this, as the POV issues would be less relevant.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Consider the camera system used in the 2011 Volkswagen XL1. That was a good idea back in 2011.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by msauve ( 701917 )
      "Move your head a bit and it stops working as it should."

      Move your head a bit and you can see what's behind the A-pillar without any high-tech.

      • But if you move your head the pillar is still there covering up some other space, except now instead of just being black it's projection inaccurate visual information there. Without eye tracking this is a bad idea.

  • Her next invention will be a head vice (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mykepredko ( 40154 ) on Friday November 01, 2019 @08:45PM (#59371534) Homepage

    As other people have noted, this prototype will only work if the driver keeps their eyes in one place - this problem is easily solved with a 3D printer just as was done with the blind spot elimination.

    Regardless, Ms. Gassler showed great ingenuity and a willingness to experiment to put this concept forwards.

    Great job!

    • When all these smartphone addicts grow up and learn to drive, they won't know you can move your head to see around the pillar so it's not really a problem that needs addressing. 3D is an old persons reality.

    • As other people have noted, this prototype will only work if the driver keeps their eyes in one place

      Yep, true for the prototype, but for a revised version, it's entirely feasible to have a couple of cameras (or the sensors they use for face unlock) to monitor the driver's face, calculate where the eyes are in 3d space, and adjust the projection accordingly.

    • Her next invention will be a head vice

      A head vice is needed to create the problem in the fist place, you are supposed to learn to move your head side to side to see behind the A-pillar.

    • Marijuana is a head vice. The word you want is vise.

    • As other people have noted, this prototype will only work if the driver keeps their eyes in one place

      You mean kind of like the side and rearview mirror only work if you keep your eyes in one place?
      You're letting perfection be the enemy of good enough. Don't do that.

  • I guess it might work like this? (Score:4, Informative)

    by jimbrooking ( 1909170 ) on Friday November 01, 2019 @09:00PM (#59371550)

    https://www.futurecar.com/2772/Continental-Develops-a-Virtual-A-Pillar-to-Eliminate-Blind-Spots-for-Drivers [futurecar.com]

    Summary: Auto part supplier Continental has developed what it calls, a ‘Virtual A Pillar', which uses cameras to show what is normally concealed by a vehicle’s A-pillar. The system removes these forward blind spots, and gives drivers a better view of their surroundings. Dated Oct 25, 2018.

    • And this one from 2014

      Jaguar Land Rover develops 'transparent' A-pillar and ghost car [w/video]

      ttps://www.autoblog.com/2014/12/15/jaguar-land-rover-360-virtual-urban-windscreen-transparent-pillar-follow-me-ghost-car-navigation-systems-video-official/

    • Toyota patents invisible A pillar [autoblog.com]. Patent date August 10th 2017.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      That's a little different because it uses OLED screens and, based on the diagram, apparently shoots lasers into the drivers eyes or something. Well, I guess it is supposed to illustrate that it triangulates the driver's head position so that the image seems to be from their point-of-view.

      This system is simpler. It doesn't head track or anything like that, you would just adjust it like a wing mirror. It's also retrofittable as an upgrade to your existing car.

      Since wing mirrors are being replaced by cameras n

      • It's sophomoric to not track head position, which makes sense since this version of this solution was implemented over five years ago by automakers, and this is a repeat of that idea. Since then other approaches have been considered. I doubt any of them will actually be implemented since there are big drawbacks to all of them, except perhaps one based on lensing and/or mirror technologies which doesn't require fiddly equipment. Cost is not a big issue because some rich fucker with more money than sense can

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          I expect something will be available soon. Many cars already have things like blind spot warning systems or cross traffic warning systems.

  • Not the most important blind spot (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The most important blind spot is the one behind you that your mirrors can't see, not the one caused by the pillar.
    • This is true, but in my opinion, it's a step in the right direction (360 degree unimpeded visibility). Given its location, it could perhaps be dual-purposed to display images from the more substantial rear-side blind spots.

    • Re:Not the most important blind spot (Score:4, Interesting)

      by skoskav ( 1551805 ) on Saturday November 02, 2019 @02:42AM (#59372010)

      Completely agree. The Volvos that I've rented the last few years have included blind spot indicator lamps [volvocars.com], which seemed like decent enough solution.

      For the forward-facing pillars, I'm curious how it might work to instead make the windshield glas near the pillars slightly refractive, to allow angling in light from the area that the pillars cover.

  • This solution was announced and demonstrated several years ago. Kudos to the girl, if she came up with it independently, but new it ain't.

  • Invented by a person who has never driven a car (Score:3)

    by pedz ( 4127433 ) on Friday November 01, 2019 @09:26PM (#59371596)
    Rarely if ever has the pillars of my car caused me any type of angst.

      • Oh come off your bitterness. Whose to say she had ever heard of anything that had been done before, I mean look at the source you've provided. I doubt the contents of "autoblog.com" are common knowledge.

        A young kid made something that's kind of neat and probably put more effort into it then most of the things we ourselves did as children. Get over your bitter self and appreciate a kid just starting out on what could be a really cool life of tinkering.

      • Yeah I know. All 14 year old girls spend their days reading autoblog right?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Have a look at the camera system used in the 2011 Volkswagen XL1.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Some cars are much worse than others. I've had some where the pillar blocks your view of roundabouts, for example.

    • It depends on the vehicle, I drive an F150 at work and the pillars blind me at certain intersections so bad that I angle the truck differently when I pull up to them. When you see people doing weird shit while they're driving they might be compensating like I do :D I've never driven any trucks at all before my current job so I always thought people driving them were just retarded rednecks that drive like shit.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cederic ( 9623 )

      There's a junction around 14 miles from me that's the perfect angle to hide all oncoming traffic behind the pillar.

      I've had cars come along that road at just the right speed to stay hidden behind the pillar as I move my head too. Move one way, road is clear, move to the other side, road looks clear but a car came around the corner while my head was at one extreme and has stayed hidden behind the pillar as I've moved to the other side of my seat.

      Never had an accident there, but do now take much longer than n

    • Rarely if ever has the pillars of my car caused me any type of angst.

      Maybe you should actually hit something or run someone over some day. I'm sure that'll take your ego down a notch or two.

  • Have hammer. Need nail. Wrong blindspot. Physics? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by passionplay ( 607862 ) on Friday November 01, 2019 @09:48PM (#59371616)

    Well, like others have said, this idea is not new. But the bigger problem is that the forward wind-shield pillar blind-spot is NOT a problematic blind-spot because you have direct line of sight while looking forward (just move your head). This is a solution in search of a problem. If you are able to move your head and see in front and behind a blind spot, it is not a critical safety issue. Poor driving skills should not be compensated for when the solution simply requires an attentive driver. This just leads to more bad drivers on the road who can't take control of the vehicle if the technology fails.

    Secondly, physics demands that the image you see must match the parallax for the individual driver or the image will become jarring similar to the reaction people have with VR. The image does not make sense to the brain and causes confusion and inaction and will create more accidents.

    Lastly, as science and your driving manual will tell you, the true blind spot is behind the car caused by the intersection of the fields of view from the side mirrors and the rearview mirror. There is part of the complete field of view that is obscured when using these mirrors because the mirros do not fully overlap. Note, this blindspot is created by the rear pillers. This then is a critical safety issue. However, all is not lost. You can actually turn your head and look backwards when changing lanes in order to see if a car is in your blindspot. Because many people are bad drivers and DON'T do this, is why so many cars now have warnings in the mirrors to tell you there is a vehicle in your blindspot. We are already catering to the inept. And now we are trying to solve a problem solved by a lower complexity solution with a higher complexity solution with no proven value and many obvious MEDICAL and NEUROLOGICAL issues resulting in new safety issues. Solving the wrong problem doesn't make you smart. It means you didn't research the problem.

    One final parting thought: When dealing with light, invisibility or relaying light, high tech is not always the answer. Unfortunately, when you have a hammer, everything is a nail. The right answer in this situation is transparent aluminum or the equivalent. (Thank you Star Trek, the Voyage Home, and Scotty).

    • This just leads to more bad drivers on the road who can't take control of the vehicle if the technology fails.

      ..and consider the different kinds of failures that can happen. It wouldnt be so bad if the only failure mode was a black screen, but we all know that wont be the only failure mode. What happens when the cpu/gpu driving it locks up? Now instead of a blind spot, you have an "unblind spot" that is lying to you.

      "The little girl that I killed didnt appear in the unblind spot screen, your honor"

    • You don't even need to move your head. If, your eyes are the average 63mm apart [wikipedia.org] and the A-pillar is 5 cm wide, located 50 cm from your eyes at a 20 degree offset from straight ahead, then your eyes have a relative separation of 63mm*cos(20 deg) = 59mm looking at things around the pillar while facing straight ahead. Lining up a triangle 59mm wide at the base which shrinks to 50mm at 50 cm distance yields a total triangle length of 3.28 meters. That is, the blind spot only extends 3.28 meters from your eye

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      This is a solution in search of a problem.

      Do you have roundabouts in your country? Accidents where someone pulls out onto a roundabout having not seen or misjudged the speed of a car coming around it are not that uncommon. The A pillar blocking the driver's view is often a factor.

      Another roundabout related accident involving the A pillar is where someone indicates to turn off and the person next to them doesn't see their indicator light because it's obscured. This is another fairly common one.

      • "Do you have roundabouts in your country? Accidents where someone pulls out onto a roundabout having not seen or misjudged the speed of a car coming around it are not that uncommon. The A pillar blocking the driver's view is often a factor."

        Such accidents are no more caused by the width of the pillar than rear end accidents are caused by someone braking suddenly. In both cases there is a driver failing at their responsibility. In one case the responsibility is to maintain a safe following distance, while in

    • simply requires an attentive driver.

      There's nothing simple about that. Even an above-average driver cannot be expected to get everything right every single time he has to make a decision.

      Consider this: pilot licenses are far more stringently controlled than car driver's licenses. Pilots are subject to regular medical checks and supervised flights in order to prove they're still worthy. And yet, airplane crashes due to pilot error still happen.

      I had an accident once where my A-pillar was a factor: I was approaching a junction where I didn't ha

      • Did I fail to clear my blindspot? Yes. Would the accident have been prevented by an A-pillar camera? Probably.

        If the sun was in your eyes, it would likely have been shining into the camera as well. Sometimes when backing into our driveway the light shines into our reverse camera on the Sprinter and then I have to do it the old fashioned way, with the mirrors. (It's a cargo van with no windows behind the cab area.)

        Sometimes you just have to slow down a lot, because you can't see well, especially if you don't have the right of way. Sounds like you didn't do what you needed to do, and I'm skeptical that this technolog

    • But the bigger problem is that the forward wind-shield pillar blind-spot is NOT a problematic blind-spot because you have direct line of sight while looking forward (just move your head).

      False. It is a problem that has caused accidents, and a blindspot is any part of your car that you can't see out of *without* moving your head. People don't move their head while driving. People move their head when doing a very select and usually very slow set of maneuvers. If moving your head during normal operation were the norm then there wouldn't be accidents as cars wouldn't have blindspots (between all your mirrors and vision around the pillars you from the driver seat with a non static head have per

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dacut ( 243842 )

        But the bigger problem is that the forward wind-shield pillar blind-spot is NOT a problematic blind-spot because you have direct line of sight while looking forward (just move your head).

        False. It is a problem that has caused accidents, and a blindspot is any part of your car that you can't see out of *without* moving your head. People don't move their head while driving. People move their head when doing a very select and usually very slow set of maneuvers. If moving your head during normal operation were the norm then there wouldn't be accidents as cars wouldn't have blindspots (between all your mirrors and vision around the pillars you from the driver seat with a non static head have perfect 360 degree vision (just blindup and down).

        Yet accidents still happen and we still call the blind spots.

        Side curtain airbags haven't helped here. Don't get me wrong -- I'm all for additional safety against side impact accidents. But if (like me) you grew up driving vehicles with small A pillars that could barely hide a chihuahua, and now an entire F-150 can hide in there at a 4-way stop. It's been an adjustment.

  • Is this a hammer looking for a nail?

  • 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.

    I remember seeing a demo of exactly that, what, 5 years ago?

    Granted I don't have and haven't seen a current car having this, and I'm really glad the "14 yo inventor" is busy and thinking -- but perhaps he should also look at some previous "work in the field" as opposed to trying to come up with Something Completely Brand New.

    He's not the only smart kid around. Just look at Greta -- teenagers knows EVERYthing, just ask them.

  • ... and big brother lookin' out every one

  • Didn't invent shit. Stole this from Mission Impossible: Ghost protocol.

  • Nothing is unique about an idea. Someone else, often soon after you do, will come up with the same idea. Like how radio was invented by two independent people.

    I would have swore I'd read about a Land Cruiser prototype, but this'll work too.

    https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nh... [nhtsa.gov]

    "16. Abstract
    This report describes the examination of a prototype side camera monitor system (CMS) used in lieu of outside rearview mirrors on a light vehicle to learn about the technology and related issues as NHTSA considers whether to

  • It is very likely that dot will soon allow cameras/monitor to replace rearviews. If so, then camera will simply do a 180.

  • The patent, published in 2017, "Apparatuses and Methods for Making an Object Appear Transparent," would reduce blind spots using mirrors to bend the image around a vehicle's pillar.

    https://www.autoblog.com/2017/... [autoblog.com]

    • "You must have JavaScript enabled to experience the new Autoblog." And with that, I resolved never to visit their shitty site again. I'll probably forget, but then they'll remind me.

  • No More Amazing Yourth Stories, Please (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pz ( 113803 ) on Saturday November 02, 2019 @07:12AM (#59372314) Journal

    Please, Slashdot editors, stop posting OMG YOUTH INVENTS SOMETHING THAT HAS BAFFLED EVERYONE FOR CENTURIES stories. They, universally, are the result of someone without knowledge reporting on a near non-event, making it into something much larger than it actually is.

    That said, there ARE people who are young and really smart and are inspired to do great things that, by luck, they stumble upon despite decades of investigation by many, many people. These budding scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs are to be celebrated. Regrettably, they are few and far between.

    And you know why? Because knowledge is power, and when you are in your teens, you haven't had enough time to amass enough knowledge to make substantial contributions to physics, engineering, biology, mathematics, or computer science, yet. These fields are just too advanced. We already know too much, and there are already too many people already looking at the same problems to make naive discovery possible except in rare cases.

    So, Slashdot editors, please, exercise a modicum of editorial prowess and curate these stories a tad better. Winning a science fair is indicative of talent, but is not in-and-of-itself newsworthy.

  • Anyone who tried a rear view mirror knows that an LCD has no contrast in daylight. It has very poor visibility.
  • This only works if you only have one eye! With two eyes parallax will cause double vision of either the pillar video or the real object, depending on which one you're focused on.
  • I remember reading this... https://www.autoblog.com/2017/... [autoblog.com]

  • Seriously, can the bullshit (Score:3)

    by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Saturday November 02, 2019 @09:14AM (#59372480)

    I get it that somebody of the /. editors apparently has an insane craving for wonderkids, but this is an old idea that has been demonstrated in the past. Please stop the nonsense.

  • While, this is an idea we have seen before, it's good that fresh 'eyes' take a look and try to find a better solution that what we have in the past. this is how some interesting advancements can happen.

    I wish her luck

  • The reason this doesn't work is because you have to have eye tracking to match the windows. Windows are expensive, hard to insulate, hard to keep clear, etc.

    Just make the car with one emergency window in the front and a shade which pops open in case of electrical failure. Lose all the other windows. Project everywhere. No eye-tracking needed, no expensive windows, no heat/cool issues, no bad aerodynamics at glass to metal joins, no windshield wipers, etc.

    Also easy to bullet-proof.

  • Is there some sort of technological reason you can't just use thicker steel tubing to provide the same visibility cars had in the 1980s? I get that making that area wider means you can make it marginally cheaper and lighter, but this seems like the same bandaid on a turd engineering that killed wagons in favor of SUVs (CAFE)
  • Volvo played around with this same idea years ago and dismissed it...

  • So is it somehow connected to the web? If not, why not just call it a camera?

  • Auto makers keep making rear windows smaller. Forward blind spots are almost never an issue.

  • | Short-throw projectors could be installed at the base of the passenger side windshield pillar to create the image without having to worry about the passenger blocking the beam.

    Instead of worrying about the passenger blocking the projector throw, let's worry about how passengers themselves block the view out of the car. Solution: projection onto the passenger too, short-throw or not.

  • Great that they did this... however it is common knowledge and I've been doing this for years. Tilt your mirrors a few degrees and there is no blind spot. No need to develop a solution that is caused by people using the mirrors wrong.....

    See one example
    https://99percentinvisible.org/article/seeing-blind-spots-clever-trick-properly-align-cars-side-view-mirrors/

    Google search or research saves you tons of time developing coding and solutions where a simple angle change works.

    • That's a solution for C-pillars - for which anyone with a neck that bends is taught the solution in driver instruction, and is required to demonstrate proficiency it during the exams. Some idiot drivers don't apply it, but that's because they're idiots who deserve to lose their licenses.

      This is a solution for A-pillars, for which the solution is to move your bloody head to look around the blind spot. Rather like the C-pillar solution, in fact.

      But at 14, this kid shouldn't be learning to drive, so she prob

  • https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/... [cnet.com] Article says 'Not the only one, surprisingly' ðYS
  • OR , make A-pillars reasonably-sized again since it's extremely unlikely your car will ever rollover, but VERY likely the thicker pillars of today will obstruct your vision on a frequent basis, making your daily driving more dangerous.
  • Why does everyone have to hate on this 14yr old girl. You guys should be glad theirs kids out in the world participating in science projects instead of out up to no good playing video games, on their phones etc. I think the ones hating are just plane and simple jealous. Grow up and think about how you sound just hating on a 14yr old.

  • i think what she did was great! very cool that she build this, but it is not the solution i would want to have irl.
    why? because it's easy to fail and adds stupid costs to cars that are already expensive as they are.

    no, i rather much prefer something in the line of what volvo experimented with a few years ago (but never made to production)
    https://www.media.volvocars.co... [volvocars.com]

Slashdot Top Deals

A physicist is an atom's way of knowing about atoms. -- George Wald

Close