wil this technolagy be comeing to the uk?
----- Original Message -----
From: Mike & Barbara
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 10:59 PM
Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Article: Blind can take wheel with new vehicle
Mark Riccobono, executive director of the National Federation of the
Blind'sJernigan
Institute, drives the Virginia Tech Blind Driver Challengevehicle through an
obstacle course of traffic cones on a campus parkinglot. In the passenger
seat is Greg Jannaman, who led the student teamwithin the mechanical
engineering department during the past year, and ismonitoring the software
of the vehicle. Credit: Steven Mackay, VirginiaTech A student team in the
Virginia Tech College of Engineering is providingthe blind with an
opportunity many never thought possible: The opportunityto drive. A
retrofitted four-wheel dirt buggy developed by the Blind DriverChallenge
team (http://www.me.vt.edu/blinddriver/) from Virginia Tech'sRobotics and
Mechanisms Laboratory uses laser range finders, an instantvoice command
interface and a host of other innovative, cutting-edgetechnology to guide
blind drivers as they steer, brake, and accelerate.Although in the early
testing stage, the National Federation of theBlind -- which spurred the
project -- considers the vehicle a majorbreakthrough for independent living
of the visually impaired. "It was great!" said Wes Majerus, of Baltimore,
the first blind person todrive the buggy on a closed course at the Virginia
Tech campus thissummer. Majerus is an access technology specialist with the
NationalFederation of the Blind's Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, a
research andtraining institute dedicated to developing technologies and
services tohelp the blind achieve independence. Majerus called his drive a
liberating experience, adding that he drovebefore on Nebraska farm roads
with his father as a guide in the passengerseat. Sitting inside the vehicle,
a blind driver can turn the steering wheel,stop and accelerate by following
data from a computing unit that usessensory information from the laser range
finder serving as the 'eyes' ofthe driver, in addition to a combination of
voice commands and a vibratingvest as guides. A member of the Virginia Tech
student team sat next toMajerus in the passenger seat to monitor the
system's software operations. "It's a great first step," Majerus added. "As
far as the differencesbetween human instructions and those given by the
voice in the BlindDriver Challenge car, the car's instructions are very
precise. You use thetechnology to act on the environment -- the driving
course -- in a veryorderly manner. In some cases, the human passenger will
be vague, "turnleft" -- does that mean just a small turn to the left, or are
we going forlarge amounts of turn?" Also driving the vehicle was Mark
Riccobono, also of Baltimore, theexecutive director of the Jernigan
Institute, who also is blind. He calledhis test drive historic. "This is
sort of our going to the moon project,"he said In 2004 Jernigan Institute
challenged university research teams to developa vehicle that would one day
allow the blind to drive. Virginia Tech wasthe only university in the nation
to accept the nonprofit's call two yearslater, said Dennis Hong, director of
the Robotics and MechanismsLaboratory, part of the Virginia Tech mechanical
engineering department.The National Federation of the Blind provided a
$3,000 grant to launch theproject. "I thought it would be a very rewarding
project, helping the blind," saidHong, the current faculty adviser on the
project. "We are not only excitedabout the vehicle itself, but more than
that, we are excited about thepotential of the many spin-off technologies
from this project that can beused for helping the blind in so many ways."
The team will bring the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle to the
NationalFederation of the Blind's Youth Slam summer camp event held July
26through Aug. 1 in College Park, Md. There, the team hopes to haveteenagers
who would be obtaining their driver's licenses, but cannotbecause of their
blindness, drive the buggy. Wesley Majerus, an access technology specialist
with the NationalFederation of the Blind's Jernigan Institute, finishes
driving theVirginia Tech Blind Driver Challenge vehicle around a roped-off
drivingcourse on a campus parking lot. The experience, he said, was
liberating. Youth participants also are expected to remote control drive
miniaturecars. Additionally, the car is expected to ride in a National
Federationof the Blind-sponsored parade in Washington D.C. "I most look
forward to learning as much as I can from these bright youngstudents," said
Greg Jannaman, who led the Virginia Tech student team inhis senior year and
graduated in May with a bachelor's degree inmechanical engineering. "Blind
students from across the nation apply to beselected to attend this summer
camp. While we are there to provide aneducational experience for them, I can
only imagine the invaluablefeedback and fresh new ideas that they will
provide in return." Jannaman is excited about the vehicle's success. "There
wasn't a moment'shesitation with any of our blind drivers, whereas
blind-folded sighteddrivers weren't as quick to let go of their
preconceptions," said Jannamanof Hendersonville, Tenn. "The blind drivers
actually performed better thantheir sighted counterparts. An overwhelming
sense of accomplishmentovercame me as I simply rode along while Wes and Mark
successfullynavigated the driving course without my assistance." Early
models of the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle relied more ontechnologies for
fully autonomous vehicles, previously developed byVirginia Tech mechanical
engineering students as part of the DARPA UrbanChallenge. The student team
redesigned the vehicle so that the blindmotorist has complete control of the
driving process, as any sighteddriver would. This change in approach led to
new challenges, including how toeffectively convey the high bandwidth of
information from the lasersensors scanning the vehicle's surrounding
environment to the driver fastenough and accurate enough to allow safe
driving. As a result, the teamdeveloped non-visual interface technologies,
including a vibrating vestfor feedback on speed, a click counter steering
wheel with audio cues,spoken commands for directional feedback, and a unique
tactile mapinterface that utilizes compressed air to provide information
about theroad and obstacles surrounding the vehicle. Riccobono knows of mock
ups and non-working "blind driver car" set-upsfrom the past, but says this
is the first working vehicle to put the blindand visually impaired in
control of the steering wheel. "Blind people havebrains, the capacity to
make decisions," he said. "Blind people want tolive independent lives, why
would they not want to drive?" Even once the technology is perfected, laws
now barring the blind fromdriving and public perception must be changed,
Riccobono said. "This isthe piece that we know will be the most difficult,"
said Riccobono, addingthat the car must be near-perfected before the
National Federation of theBlind can truly push the car to law-makers and the
general public. He saidthis effort will take millions of dollars in
development. The 2009-10 student team already is planning major changes to
thetechnology, including replacing the dirt buggy vehicle with a
fullyelectric car commonly used by traffic officers in downtown city
centers.The all-electric vehicle would reduce the vibration which can
causeproblems to the laser sensor, and it will provide clean electric power
forthe computing units and that is better for the environment. Source:
Virginia Tech (news : web)
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