ATI Blind can take wheel with new vehicle

[R. E. Driscoll, Sr.]

I wonder if it will cost less than the bill identifier!

Nancy Lynn wrote:
> 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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