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

[Sarah Alawami]

I did voat against this in 2007 and I still do. Are you surprised?

 

 

Begin msg

 

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.

 

 "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.

 

 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

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