Hi, this is fine and great like to see things like this going on that
might
be of benefit to us maybe in the next 25 to 50 years. Which will be all
most
to late for me! What I would like to see more of right now and I
personally
think would be of much more benefit to us in everyday life is some of
these
examples. Example: All major appliance being completely accessible,
Majority of electronics being completely accessible or at the least mostly
accessible, such as ( TV menus, Radios, House and cell phones being
completely accessible, Satellite and cable boxes accessible and GPS that
is
completely accessible at a reasonable price and they would work in most
business buildings). This all would be a start with stuff that would
really
help right now! This is what I would like to see happen in the next say 5
years. Just my thoughts.
Thanks,
Blackjack
blackjack2@xxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf
Of Lynn Evans
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 8:57 PM
To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tabi] Blind drivers plot their own course
Blind Drivers Plot Their Own Course
Va. Tech Prototype Vehicle Lets Visually Impaired Students Take the Wheel
By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 1, 2009
A voice rose above the chatter in the University of Maryland parking
lot: "Blind man driving!"
Twenty people took turns piloting a car on this muggy Friday morning, the
first public test of technology that might one day overcome barriers to
putting the blind behind the wheel.
The quest to drive has captivated the blind community as it has become
more
integrated into a car-centric society. Some likened Friday's test to a
moon
landing -- a fitting analogy, considering that the prototype vehicle
vaguely
resembled a lunar rover.
"One day, we'll be on the road with them," said Ishaan Rastogi, 15, a
blind
New Jersey high school student with a Yankees cap pulled over his eyes and
the first to test the vehicle.
The event capped a
<http://www.blindscience.org/ncbys/youth_slam.asp>summer science academy
organized by the National Federation of the Blind for 200 blind and
low-vision young people from across the country. The youths had spent the
week rock climbing, bungee-jumping and launching weather balloons,
activities tailored to teach that there is no limit to what a blind person
can do.
Virginia Tech engineers started work on the vehicle in response to a
2004 challenge from the blindness advocacy group to build a vehicle that
the
blind could drive with the same freedom as the sighted.
"Blind people can do all sorts of things that the public doesn't think we
can do," said Chris Danielsen, spokesman for the federation.
The blind can read ordinary books with a hand-held device that translates
type to synthetic speech. Adaptive devices permit blind users to interact
with computers and surf the Internet.
Driving without sight became a conceivable goal in this decade with the
development of autonomous, computer-guided vehicles. The Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency ran a series of
<http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/index.asp>contests to inspire a
driverless car that could navigate complex terrain. By 2007, vehicles from
Virginia Tech and several other universities could complete the DARPA
course.
But an autonomous vehicle wasn't enough.
"We want the blind person to be the driver, not to be driven," said Matt
Lippy, 21, a member of the nine-person design team at
<http://www.me.vt.edu/romela/RoMeLa/RoMeLa.html>Virginia Tech's Robotics &
Mechanisms Laboratory.
The design team first sought to customize Virginia Tech's entry in the
2007
DARPA contest, a modified Ford Escape that finished third in the
competition. But the engineers decided it would be easier to start from
scratch. They purchased an all-terrain vehicle online for $1,300 in fall
2008 and began anew.
They mounted a laser sensor to the front of the vehicle to sweep the
terrain
ahead and return a signal. A powerful computer at the rear of the buggy
interprets the signal to build a two-dimensional map, showing obstacles in
the vehicle's path.
But how to show that map to a person who cannot see?
Researchers boiled down the data to two crucial factors: direction and
speed. A computer voice signals the driver through headphones how to steer
to avoid a collision -- one click to the left, for example; three clicks
to
the right.
"We call it a back-seat driver," Lippy said.
The increments correspond to notches cut from the steering wheel. The
driver
turns the wheel and hears an audible "click."
The computer communicates speed with vibrations fed through a vest worn by
the driver. Stronger vibrations indicate it is time to stop.
Sensors automatically kill the engine if the vehicle gets too close to an
impediment. For the test drives, engineers rigged the buggy for a top
speed
of 15 mph.
One by one Friday morning, drivers buzzed around Parking Lot 1D, empty
save
for traffic cones placed at intervals around light poles.
There were no mishaps.
"It's finally a chance to drive," said Angel Reyes, 16, a junior at New
Brunswick High School in New Jersey, as he climbed from the vehicle.
"Finally a chance to be more independent in getting where you want to go."
When the team first tested the buggy in May, three blind drivers completed
a
curved course without hitting a single cone. In fact, the blind drivers --
who had never driven before -- fared better than the engineers themselves,
who tried steering the car blindfolded. Lippy thinks that the experienced
drivers tended to ignore the computer signals and follow their own
instincts; the blind drivers obeyed the computer to the letter.
The blind drivers posed questions that had not occurred to the engineers.
How would they find the vehicle in a parking lot? If they had to jump the
battery, how could they tell the positive cable from the negative?
The engineers say their first Blind Driver Challenge vehicle is crude. The
computer can sense and avoid obstacles but cannot plot a course to a
destination. The team is working on a more sophisticated interface to
deliver signals to drivers. Their goal is to convert the two-dimensional
map
plotted by the computer into something a blind driver can touch.
They have tested a grid of air holes that shoot bursts of air, using
various
pulses and pressures, to convey topographical data. (A higher pressure
could
signal hills or bumps.)
"You have to understand, this is a prototype," said Dennis Hong, an
associate professor at Virginia Tech who directs the robotics lab.
"First time in the history of mankind."
He predicts a safe, stable technology for blind motorists will arrive
"within the next three years. The problem is not the technology. The
problem
is public perception and legal issues."
He urges detractors to think of the last time they flew in an airplane.
"On
autopilot," he said. "Nobody questions that."
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