BROOMFIELD, CO – OCT. 27: After a test-drive, Gov. Hickenlooper gets out of the Arrow Electronics Corvette and heads out to test the driverless BMW all-electric 2016 7-series. In coordination with the upcoming Transportation Matters Summit 2015 being held Oct. 28, Gov. John Hickenlooper test drives several electric and driverless cars in Broomfield on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. (Photo by Kathryn Scott Osler/The Denver Post)
by Monte Whaley as republished from The Denver Post
No hands in a tricked-out 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray
Dateline November 2015: BROOMFIELD,Colorado — Look, constituents, no hands. In fact, Gov. John Hickenlooper needed only to nudge his head Tuesday morning to control a tricked-out 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray around the west parking lot of the 1stBank Center. After a short jaunt, Hickenlooper stepped out of the Corvette and announced that he was suitably impressed.
“This is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done,” Hickenlooper said. “It’s almost like it was reading my mind.”
In a way, the car was. The Corvette is modified for the Arrow Semi-Autonomous Motorcar Project for former IndyCar driver and current Verizon IndyCar Series Team owner Sam Schmidt.
Schmidt was paralyzed in a racing accident in 2000. But last May, Schmidt became the first person with quadriplegia to drive at speed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, using the modifications Hickenlooper used Tuesday.
Those included a cap loaded with sensors connected to dashboard-mounted infrared cameras, which detect head tilts and command steering.
Hickenlooper also used his breath to accelerate and brake the Corvette by sucking or blowing into a tube attached to Freescale pressure sensor.
Hickenlooper admitted driving without using his hands was tough at first. In the passenger seat next to him was Noel Marshall, mechanical engineer for the Corvette project.
“You have to stay focused on what you are doing and keep looking straight ahead,” Hickenlooper said.
Marshall added a car like the Corvette won’t be driving on any Colorado roadway any time soon.
Still, Hickenlooper test-drove other vehicles Tuesday that only a few years ago were considered just scratches on the drawing board.
“Just awhile ago, none of these vehicles were even considered something someone could drive today,” said Amy Ford, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Those included a BMW all-electric XDrive 730i and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Mercedes-Benz F-Cell, the car company’s first zero-emissions automobile.
All drove smoothly and with plenty of punch for a busy U.S. 36.
The test drives helped headline a busy 48 hours for transportation innovations in Denver.
Later Tuesday, Hickenlooper joined U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock in a forum to discuss the draft report “Beyond Traffic.” The document — produced by the U.S. Department of Transportation — predicts increased gridlock nationwide unless changes are made in transportation policy and methods in the next few years.
Wednesday, CDOT will host the Colorado Transportation Matters Summit, which will focus on innovations planned for the state’s roadway system in the 21st century.
CDOT is expected to announce the launch of RoadX, a $20 million venture that seeks new technology and private partners to “improve safety, mobility and efficiency of the state’s transportation system over the next 10 years,” according to CDOT.
The agency also will convene a RoadX InnoVisers Council, co-chaired by Colorado Congressman Jared Polis, to tap innovators and advisers to come up with ideas to integrate technology into Colorado’s road system.
“It is time for our state to take the leading role in major achievement in travel and in Colorado’s economic future,” said Shailen Bhatt, executive director of CDOT.
