[aarontech] Fw: cars for the blind
- From: "Valiant8086" <valiant8086@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <aarontech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:50:31 -0400
----- Original Message -----
From: jim
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 6:33 PM
Subject: cars for the blind
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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