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

Fri Jul 17 19:25:24 UTC 2009

Antonio,

The reason why we'd need extra guidence in a car is because we don't 
have direct contact with our environment the same way we do when we're 
pedestrians (either on foot in or a wheelchair). Also, cars go much 
faster than humans can, so that guidence is necessary because light 
travels fast enough to allow the sighted to use it via their eyeballs. 
Since we don't have a working equivillent, we need a bit of extra help. 
I don't think that deserves ridicule at all. And yes, I also voted 
against the resolution in '07 because I also thought we had bigger fish 
to fry. We still do, but I also agree that offering consultation to 
those building these things is a good idea. Otherwise, they'll build 
stuff based on perceived needs rather than real ones.

Respectfully Submitted
Original message:
> Hello Antonio and listers,

>     Then how about getting on board with it and supporting future
> resolutions and efforts to make such a vehicle a reality. Remember this the
> next time paratransit is late, fails to show up, or busses don't run in a
> particular community you wish to visit or live  causing you to be confined
> to the urban environment, miss an important test or worse lose a job
> opportunity due to the unavailability of public transportation. How
> different it would be if you could jump in the car and drive yourself there
> rather than relying on public transit.

>     This is just scratching the surface. Being able to live where one wants
> to live, go when one wants to go without being restricted by the
> availability or lack of public transportation in one's community is not just
> awesome, it's empowering!!!

> Peter Donahue

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Antonio Guimaraes" <aguimaraes at nbp.org>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 10:16 AM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Blind can take wheel with new vehicle

> Sarah,

> I am not surprised about people voting down the 2007 resolution to put
> effort and funding behing a car the blind can drive. I would have voted
> against it myself.

> It is very good to stimulate and promote innovative research into this type
> of thing, but there are more tangible things to be concerned with, so the
> resolution didn't pass, if I remember correctly.

> I can't emphasize enough that this kind of research and development is
> exciting, and important.

> Skepticism will always come up about these things though, because we don't
> know what the future could hold for a car the blind can drive.

> I don't understand how blind people expect to drive safely, sure we know we
> are capable of deciding this and that, and of taking control and making
> driving decisions. But aren't we now fighting to be able to cross streets
> safely? Hybrid cars should be making noise so we know what to do as
> pedestrians, but I wonder how much noise things will need to make for us to
> drive safely.

> If cars can have sensord to detect all things on the road for a blind
> driver, why not work on a similar thing for blind pedestrians to cross
> safely?

> I don't expect an answer on that question, since I am being a bit of a
> devil's advocate. Pedestrian safety should rest with car manufacturers, but
> if we are fighting this battle with hybrids today, and keep on with a
> mission for a blind driver car, we will be questioned, if not ridiculed.

> Antonio M. Guimaraes Jr.

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sarah Alawami" <marrie12 at gmail.com>
> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 4:07 AM
> Subject: [nabs-l] Blind can take wheel with new vehicle

>> 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

>> website: http://www.marrie.org

>> twitter: http://twitter.com/marrie1

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