[Perform-talk] NFB/Virginia Tech colaboration to make a car for blind drivers

Donna Hill penatwork at epix.net
Sat May 30 16:30:15 UTC 2009


Hi Friends,
I listened to a Mark Ricabono video on the NFB site about this just the 
other day. Below is the latest post by blind NFB 17-year-old Nikki about 
it. I love Nikki's posts.
Donna Hill

Creating a Vehicle Designed for Blind Drivers
By: Nicki
Published: Friday, 29 May 2009

http://www.healthnews.com/blogs/nicki/natural-health/creating-a-vehicle-designed-blind-drivers-3202.html
Blind Driver

In the 2008/2009 school year at Virginia Tech University, the first 
vehicle was created which can be independently operated by blind 
individuals. And while
there’s still a very long way to go before a vehicle that can safely be 
driven on the open road can be created, the mere fact that the first 
step along
the path has been taken is incredibly historically significant.

About 20 students, along with faculty, designed the vehicle for their 
senior engineering course. They were incredibly thrilled, since after 
four years
of formulas and theoretical hypothesis, they were allowed to put the 
accumulated knowledge to use. They worked in conjunction with the 
National Federation
of the Blind (NFB), and as this partnership continued, their goals and 
expectations for the vehicle evolved.

The students had originally envisioned something like an automated car 
that would drive itself after you typed in the address of the 
destination you wished
to reach. Slowly, however, they realized the importance of the blind 
driver being able to maintain their autonomy on the open road. 
Technology is incredibly
fallible and there could be additional information unavailable to the 
technology but available to the human driver. Therefore, they decided to 
use robotic
sensors in order to give the driver auditory queues about upcoming 
construction, turns, and changes in the speed limit, to name a few.

By doing this, they manufactured a vehicle that epitomizes the best of 
both worlds. The auditory sensors can warn the drivers of approaching 
hazards/turns
while the driver puts these queues together with additional information 
like road construction that the technology may not have picked up on. Of 
course,
there are flaws, and through a number of testing scenarios involving 
blind people, they are ironing out the kinks. The 2009/2010 team will 
have a slightly
easier time building the next model, simply by virtue of the fact that 
it has been done before, and blind feedback will point out what needs to 
be improved
upon. For instance, the motor needs to be made quieter, as its volume 
can often drown out key auditory sounds.

One of the most important scenarios will be the week-long Blind Driver’s 
Track at the NFB Youth Slam, which is a camp designed for blind 
individuals interested
in a career involving science, technology, engineering, and/or 
mathematics. I am, to say the least, envious of those participating; 
putting one’s hands
all over the vehicle and moving over short obstacle courses with 
autonomy just as many sighted people move down roads will be 
exhilarating. Even though
I am not attending, I have managed to glean a bit of information about 
the vehicle’s design. It is an open dune buggy that contains the 
traditional pedals
of a car from the gas to the clutch to the gear shift. Unfortunately, I 
know little more than that, although I can tell you that I am definitely 
looking
forward to pumping participants of the program who were in the Blind 
Driver’s Track for every scrap of information they remember.

Finally there is a glimmer of hope that eventually, perhaps not soon, 
but eventually, we too will be cruising the roads in a vehicle specially 
designed
so that we could be the safest, most well-informed drivers possible, 
despite our blindness. What once seemed an insurmountable mountain on 
the scale of
Everest is slowly looking like a large hill, which we have high hopes of 
scaling. The only factor that dampens my excitement even slightly is my 
concern
that in our exuberance over this development, we as blind people, along 
with our allies, will stop working to improve public transit—which would 
be a fatal
error.

For the blind community in general, public transit has increased our 
independence immensely. With good public transit systems, we have become 
competent
travelers who may move freely about our cities of choice, without being 
constrained by any schedule, except the bus's, and any user of public 
transit is
constrained by that. For some of us, especially those living with fewer 
financial resources, public transit may still remain an invaluable 
resource, even
after a blind-friendly vehicle becomes available. But convincing the 
community of that is a fight for another day, and for now, I can simply 
bask in the
accomplishment.


-- 
Read my articles on American Chronicle:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885

For my bio & to hear clips from The Last Straw:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill

Apple I-Tunes

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374

Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind
www.padnfb.org




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