I’ll admit it: I’ve had a pedestrian enter the crosswalk without me immediately noticing because they were blocked by the right side of my car. But what if your car frame didn’t block your line of sight while driving?
That’s what 14-year-old Alaina Gassler looked into for her invention at the Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars) competition for middle schoolers from the Society for Science and the Public this week. She came up with a project called, “Improving Automobile Safety by Removing Blind Spots.”
She built a prototype system with a webcam, projector, and 3D-printed materials to fill in the space the car frame blocks from drivers. No more missing information. Simple, yet elegant.