[il-talk] Blind Driver Challenge

Sun Feb 27 08:43:24 UTC 2011

Hi Cris, 
If you see this can you write me at 
Edwin.rodriguez at accessliving.org 

-----Original Message-----
From: il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Christella Garcia
Sent: February 03, 2011 6:10 AM
To: NFB of Illinois Mailing List
Subject: Re: [il-talk] Blind Driver Challenge

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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