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

Sat Jul 18 18:27:35 UTC 2009

Id be all for the blind behind the wheel thing because I'd be able to
live in a rural setting and never ever have to wory about buses and
trains.  But what about Guyco auto insurance? lol
Beth

On 7/17/09, alberto arreola <alberto.2500 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Peter:
> I would be willing to get on board with this and even giving my opinions on
> the product if I were asked to.  I've always had a great interest in cars
> even though I'm blind I always like to go check them out, and ask stuff
> about them.  I know this project will take a lot of time, and money to make
> good for use, but if we all put an effert it can happen.  Some of us have to
> lose our fear of trying this out, and think positively of it and think of
> all the options that could be open to us if it comes to be.
>
> Alberto
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Peter Donahue
> Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 11:41 AM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Blind can take wheel with new vehicle
>
> 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
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>>
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/aguimaraes%40nbp.org
>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/pdonahue1%40sbcgloba
> l.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/alberto.2500%40gmail
> .com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/thebluesisloose%40gmail.com
>