[il-talk] Blind Driver Challenge

Thu Feb 3 12:09:32 UTC 2011

Hello everyone If you get a weird email from me please disreguard it.
I've been hacked Sorry. Chris

On 2/2/11, Edwin Rodriguez <conibodyworks at gmail.com> wrote:
> Well said.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of AZNOR99 at aol.com
> Sent: February 03, 2011 12:23 AM
> To: gvilla at wideopenwest.com; il-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [il-talk] Blind Driver Challenge
>
> Thanks, George,
>
> The BDC was a lot of fun, and it was such a pleasant surprise to look up and
> see Linda waving at me and shouting my name as I walked past the NFB Grand
> Stand.  It was awesome hanging out with you at the pizza party as  well.
>
> I got some fun pictures of the car, including one of those super model poses
> where I'm leaning over the hood.  The NFB had a booth where people  could
> change a tire with sleep shades on.  Some people did it in less than  30
> seconds.  I heard someone say that anyone working in the pitt at a race
> should be required to get training on how to change tires blind from us, as
> it'd reduce the time cars have to spend off the track.
>
> The unintended aspect of the BDC, I believe, was that people got to brush up
> on their mobility skills.  The Daytona race track is 3.5 miles long, and the
> fare grounds are in the center.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to
> where anything is.  Our booth and grand stand were both in the Sprint Fan
> Zone (opposite ends).  The problem was that there was a Sprint Fan Deck,
> Sprint Fan Fair, Sprint Fan Patio, and on and on.  Then, pretty much
> everyone who worked the event was driving an official car or golf cart
> inside the fare grounds, sharing space with the 35,000 race attendees who
> were  on foot.  Many of the cars were actual race cars, which made using
> audio  cues for mobility quite challenging.  Finally, none of the park staff
> seemed to know where anything was, especially the parking lot where our
> buses  and cars were, our grand stand, our booth (though they all seemed to
> know where our car was).  So we wandered around a lot.  Everyone had a story
> about how they got lost or misdirected, or just outright confused.  I'm
> convinced when we go to Orlando, we'll be able to go to Daytona and pick up
> Federationists who are still wandering around the racetrack.
>
> At any rate, it was a lot of fun, and it was incredible to witness such an
> important moment in our organization's history.
>
> Ronza
>
>
>
> In a message dated 1/30/2011 11:01:14 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> gvilla at wideopenwest.com writes:
>
> Hello  All
>
> Linda and I spent two exciting days with the NFB in Daytona.   The meeting
> on
> Friday night was filled with anticipation.   It  felt like a pep rally and
> really fired up the NFB members in  attendance.  The speakers left us with a
> feeling of confidence and  expectations for the coming day's history making
> event.  For the first  time a blind person would enter a car as a driver and
> not a  passenger.  A blind person would be in control of a car.   Mark
> Ricobono, the driver, would control the speed of the vehicle, make  turns
> and
> avoid objects.   Just think how that would feel.   At the end of the evening
> we were all given purple and white shirts to wear  on Saturday.
> Saturday morning busses were lined up to take us to the race  track.  As
> many years that Linda and I have been coming to Daytona we  had never been
> to the
> track.  So this was a first for us.
> A lot of behind the scenes work was done between the NFB and the  track
> management and it showed.  A seating area was reserved for us as  a group.
> Feelings ran high.  NFB members were singing and dancing as  we waited for
> the Blind Drivers Challenge to begin.  Excitement filled  the air.  As the
> beginning of the drive came near Kevin Worley made an  announcement from the
> audio booth and cheers went up.  Kevin did a  great job keeping us informed
> of each and every step of the  race.   We were told each step of the way as
> Mark was handed the  keys, as he started the vehicle, and then the drive
> began.  It seemed  like a life time, but then there he was turning the
> corner right in front  of us.  The excitement as he passed the NFB
> grandstand  was
> electrifying.   After the drive we went to the media  center.   It was
> standing room only.  We heard from Dr. Mark  Mauer, Kevin Worley, one of the
> technicians from Virginia tech, and of  course our driver Mark Ricobono.
> Many other people spoke and worked hard to  make this event possible I'm
> sure
> I left out some important names.   The rest of the afternoon was spent at
> the
> track.  We met NFB members  from around the country, sampled some great
> chili from the chili cook off  and enjoyed the great weather.
> Saturday evening we shared more NFB  fellowship at a pizza party with all in
> attendance.   We were at  tables for ten at the pizza party and who happened
> to sit next to us,  Chicago Chapter member Ronza Othman.  We had a nice
> visit with  her.  Everyone was abuzz from the day's history making event.
> Saturday's events proved with technology, appropriate training and education
> the blind are capable of many things.  We can expand our  productivity and
> participation in society.   It was a great day  for the NFB and blind people
> as a whole.
> I have attached  pictures from Saturday's events.   There are pictures of
> the
> excited crowd in the grandstands, speakers, and of course the car  driven by
> Mark as it passed us on the course.  The car was on display  and we were
> able to get up close to the vehicle and took pictures of the  outside and
> the inside of the car.  Engineers from Virginia tech were  on hand and I was
> able to ask questions about the car.  In one of the  pictures I am holding
> one of the control gloves that is used to control the  vehicle.  The gloves
> seemed like an ordinary pair of work gloves but  has an extraordinary system
> attached to it.  A second picture is of  the car seat, again an ordinary
> looking seat pad with unbelievable  technology behind it.  Another picture
> shows a computer in the rear  hatch of the vehicle.  This computer controls
> the sensors that enable  the blind to interpret the input that goes into the
> gloves and seat.   There is even a shot of fellow chapter member Steve
> Hastalis in the  grandstand.  Unfortunately the crowd and area was so big we
> never  caught site of Steve again. There are even a few shots of Linda  and
> me.
>
>
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