Business View Magazine | July 2022

9 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 7 ARROW ELECTRONICS RETURNS TO GOODWOOD FOR THE ICONIC FESTIVAL OF SPEED HILLCLIMB L ONDON, U.K. Paralyzed racing driver Sam Schmidt drove up Goodwood Festival of Speed’s iconic 1.86km Hillclimb in Arrow Electronics’ Semi-Autonomous Motorcar (SAM Car) on 24 June, as part of the ‘FOS Highlights and FIA Batch 5 / BMW M, Sports Racers & Modern GTs’. Schmidt and Arrow participated in this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed with a 2021 McLaren 720S Spider sports car, which has been modified by Arrow, enabling Schmidt to drive the car with just his head. In addition, Arrow exhibited the Semi-Autonomous Mobility (SAM) Suit exoskeleton at the Festival of Speed’s Future Lab, and a prototype facial recognition steering system for the SAM Car that is in development and has been successfully tested at low speeds. Schmidt is an IndyCar team co-owner ( Arrow McLaren SP) and former Indy Racing League driver, who crashed during a practice lap at the Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando in 2000, severely injuring his spinal cord. He was diagnosed a quadriplegic. To help Schmidt reclaim his independence and drive again, Arrow engineers created a smart, connected vehicle that he can operate safely and independently using head and mouth controls and voice commands – the Arrow SAM Car. OPENING L INES