[nabs-l] Blind can take wheel with new vehicle

[T. Joseph Carter]

Sarah,

If you would continue to vote against it after you'd seen the car in 
action, I would indeed be surprised.

First, the most common accident sighted people get into is one called 
"Looked but failed to see" (LBFTS).  In such an accident, the person 
did in fact look where the car they collide with was positioned, but 
somehow they failed to recognize the car until the collision, or 
until avoiding a collision was impossible.

The first prototype from Virginia Tech, a vehicle designed, 
assembled, and tested with literally no budget, makes that kind of 
accident virtually impossible.

The speed, steering, and object avoidance systems are precise and 
accurate.  They are the only systems thus far implemented, and a 
street-ready car will need more object avoidance systems for safety, 
but the proof of concept is there.

The questions are now will future versions of the system be 
accurately able to identify and read street signs, can the system 
become family-safe, and who is going to make the necessary 
adaptations to a GPS (which is wholly not optional for a blind driver 
IMO) to make the system work?

The point is that they said it couldn't be done.  It has been done.  
They said it couldn't be safe.  It is safe.  There is no illusion 
that this thing is ready for the road, of course, but we should 
believe now that it can be done.  In time, it will be done.

Joseph


On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 01:07:50AM -0700, Sarah Alawami wrote:
>I did voat against this in 2007 and I still do. Are you surprised?
>
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>Begin msg
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>Mark Riccobono, executive director of the National Federation of the Blind's
>Jernigan Institute, drives the Virginia Tech Blind Driver Challenge  vehicle
>through an obstacle course of traffic cones on a campus  parking lot. In the
>passenger seat is Greg Jannaman, who led the  student team within the
>mechanical engineering department during the  past year, and is monitoring
>the software of the vehicle. Credit:
>
> Steven Mackay, Virginia Tech
>
> 
>
> A student team in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering is  providing
>the blind with an opportunity many never thought possible:
>
> The opportunity to drive.
>
> 
>
> A retrofitted four-wheel dirt buggy developed by the Blind Driver
>Challenge team (http://www.me.vt.edu/blinddriver/) from Virginia  Tech's
>Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory uses laser range finders, an  instant
>voice command interface and a host of other innovative,  cutting-edge
>technology to guide blind drivers as they steer, brake, and accelerate.
>
> Although in the early testing stage, the National Federation of the  Blind
>-- which spurred the project -- considers the vehicle a major  breakthrough
>for independent living of the visually impaired.
>
> 
>
> "It was great!" said Wes Majerus, of Baltimore, the first blind person  to
>drive the buggy on a closed course at the Virginia Tech campus this  summer.
>Majerus is an access technology specialist with the National  Federation of
>the Blind's Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, a research  and training
>institute dedicated to developing technologies and  services to help the
>blind achieve independence.
>
> 
>
> Majerus called his drive a liberating experience, adding that he drove
>before on Nebraska farm roads with his father as a guide in the  passenger
>seat.
>
> 
>
> Sitting inside the vehicle, a blind driver can turn the steering  wheel,
>stop and accelerate by following data from a computing unit  that uses
>sensory information from the laser range finder serving as  the 'eyes' of
>the driver, in addition to a combination of voice  commands and a vibrating
>vest as guides. A member of the Virginia Tech  student team sat next to
>Majerus in the passenger seat to monitor the system's software operations.
>
> 
>
> "It's a great first step," Majerus added. "As far as the differences
>between human instructions and those given by the voice in the Blind  Driver
>Challenge car, the car's instructions are very precise. You use  the
>technology to act on the environment -- the driving course -- in a  very
>orderly manner. In some cases, the human passenger will be vague,  "turn
>left" -- does that mean just a small turn to the left, or are we  going for
>large amounts of turn?"
>
> 
>
> Also driving the vehicle was Mark Riccobono, also of Baltimore, the
>executive director of the Jernigan Institute, who also is blind. He  called
>his test drive historic. "This is sort of our going to the moon project,"
>
> he said
>
> 
>
> In 2004 Jernigan Institute challenged university research teams to  develop
>a vehicle that would one day allow the blind to drive.
>
> Virginia Tech was the only university in the nation to accept the
>nonprofit's call two years later, said Dennis Hong, director of the
>Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory, part of the Virginia Tech mechanical
>engineering department.
>
> The National Federation of the Blind provided a $3,000 grant to launch  the
>project.
>
> 
>
> "I thought it would be a very rewarding project, helping the blind,"
>
> said Hong, the current faculty adviser on the project. "We are not  only
>excited about the vehicle itself, but more than that, we are  excited about
>the potential of the many spin-off technologies from  this project that can
>be used for helping the blind in so many ways."
>
> 
>
> The team will bring the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle to the National
>Federation of the Blind's Youth Slam summer camp event held July 26  through
>Aug. 1 in College Park, Md. There, the team hopes to have  teenagers who
>would be obtaining their driver's licenses, but cannot  because of their
>blindness, drive the buggy.
>
> 
>
> Wesley Majerus, an access technology specialist with the National
>Federation of the Blind's Jernigan Institute, finishes driving the  Virginia
>Tech Blind Driver Challenge vehicle around a roped-off  driving course on a
>campus parking lot. The experience, he said, was liberating.
>
> 
>
> Youth participants also are expected to remote control drive miniature
>cars. Additionally, the car is expected to ride in a National  Federation of
>the Blind-sponsored parade in Washington D.C.
>
> 
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> "I most look forward to learning as much as I can from these bright  young
>students," said Greg Jannaman, who led the Virginia Tech student  team in
>his senior year and graduated in May with a bachelor's degree  in mechanical
>engineering. "Blind students from across the nation  apply to be selected to
>attend this summer camp. While we are there to  provide an educational
>experience for them, I can only imagine the  invaluable feedback and fresh
>new ideas that they will provide in return."
>
> 
>
> Jannaman is excited about the vehicle's success. "There wasn't a  moment's
>hesitation with any of our blind drivers, whereas  blind-folded sighted
>drivers weren't as quick to let go of their  preconceptions," said Jannaman
>of Hendersonville, Tenn. "The blind  drivers actually performed better than
>their sighted counterparts. An  overwhelming sense of accomplishment
>overcame me as I simply rode  along while Wes and Mark successfully
>navigated the driving course without my assistance."
>
> 
>
> Early models of the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle relied more on
>technologies for fully autonomous vehicles, previously developed by
>Virginia Tech mechanical engineering students as part of the DARPA  Urban
>Challenge. The student team redesigned the vehicle so that the  blind
>motorist has complete control of the driving process, as any  sighted driver
>would.
>
> 
>
> This change in approach led to new challenges, including how to
>effectively convey the high bandwidth of information from the laser  sensors
>scanning the vehicle's surrounding environment to the driver  fast enough
>and accurate enough to allow safe driving. As a result,  the team developed
>non-visual interface technologies, including a  vibrating vest for feedback
>on speed, a click counter steering wheel  with audio cues, spoken commands
>for directional feedback, and a  unique tactile map interface that utilizes
>compressed air to provide  information about the road and obstacles
>surrounding the vehicle.
>
> 
>
> Riccobono knows of mock ups and non-working "blind driver car" set-ups
>from the past, but says this is the first working vehicle to put the  blind
>and visually impaired in control of the steering wheel. "Blind  people have
>brains, the capacity to make decisions," he said. "Blind  people want to
>live independent lives, why would they not want to drive?"
>
> 
>
> Even once the technology is perfected, laws now barring the blind from
>driving and public perception must be changed, Riccobono said. "This  is the
>piece that we know will be the most difficult," said Riccobono,  adding that
>the car must be near-perfected before the National  Federation of the Blind
>can truly push the car to law-makers and the  general public. He said this
>effort will take millions of dollars in development.
>
> 
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> The 2009-10 student team already is planning major changes to the
>technology, including replacing the dirt buggy vehicle with a fully
>electric car commonly used by traffic officers in downtown city centers.
>
> The all-electric vehicle would reduce the vibration which can cause
>problems to the laser sensor, and it will provide clean electric power  for
>the computing units and that is better for the environment.
>
> 
>
> Source: Virginia Tech (news : web)
>
> 
>
> 
>
>Sarah Alawami
>
>msn: chellist at hotmail.com
>
>website: http://www.marrie.org
>
>twitter: http://twitter.com/marrie1
>
> 
>
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