[nfbmi-talk] FW: [The-Facts-Machine] Blind can take wheel with new vehicle

[Fred Wurtzel]

-----Original Message-----
From: The-Facts-Machine at googlegroups.com
[mailto:The-Facts-Machine at googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nancy Lynn
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:22 PM
To: Missouri Chat List; mcb List; ATI list
Subject: [The-Facts-Machine] Blind can take wheel with new vehicle


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)
>
>
>
>
>
>


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