[Nfbkabs] Blind Driving Project
Shannon Caldwell
sjgc14 at windstream.net
Wed Jul 29 07:09:29 UTC 2009
FYI
Shannon Caldwell
Sjgc14 at windstream.net
blind drivers
>Blind can take wheel with vehicle designed by university
engineering design
>team
>By Steven Mackay
>BLACKSBURG, Va., July 15, 2009 -- 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 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
earlier 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.
>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.
>Hong is a National Science Foundation CAREER Award recipient. He
received
>his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the
University of
>Wisconsin-Madison in 1994, and his master's and doctoral degrees
in
>mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1999 and 2002,
>respectively.
>IMAGE INFORMATION: 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..
>Contact Steven Mackay at smackay at vt.edu or (540) 231-4787 .
>Stewart Hughes
>Family Resource Coordinator II
>Family Access Services/PARC
>Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
>Children's Seashore House Rm# 126A
>Little Rock Foundation Family Resource Room
>267-426-7285
>HUGHESS at email.chop.edu
>In-House: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
>
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