Robot Guide Dog Picks Up Where Man's Best Friend Left Off From: Newswise - 03/25/2005 Visually impaired people could find their way in places where guide dogs are of little use with the help of the Robotic Guide developed by Utah State University computer science professor Vladimir Kulyukin and his team of grad students. The device marries radio frequency technology with a mobile base to help users get around airports and other environments unfamiliar to guide dogs. The user selects a target location from a Braille directory, while the guide gives directions and additional information en route, zeroing in on radio frequency identification tags deployed throughout its surroundings to localize itself. Upon reaching the target destination - a grocery store, for example - the robot can relay detailed information about specified objects, such as where to find items the user needs to buy. Kulyukin and his team have spent the past two years refining the Robot Guide, and they envision robotic smart carts in airport terminals as well as robotic shopping carts in grocery stores. The professor plans to keep developing the robot in order to guarantee its availability to consumers, and his team is also devising a wearable navigation system to help visually impaired users get around in outdoor environments. "I have always been interested in assistive technology and wanted to build something that actually makes a difference," Kulyukin comments. "This is practical stuff and works well at enhancing human life." http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/510688/ Links: RFID-Equipped Robots Used as Guide Dogs http://www.primidi.com/2005/01/29.html Utah State University - Center for Persons with Disabilities http://www.cpd.usu.edu/ Professor helps create space-age guide dogs http://www.utahstatesman.com/news/2005/01/26/Features/Professor.Helps.Create.SpaceAge.Guide.Dogs-841849.shtml --- Robot Guide Dog Picks Up Where Man’s Best Friend Leaves Off From: Utah State University News Releases - 03/25/2005 By: Whitney Wilkinson A new, one-of-a-kind robot uses the latest technology to help the visually impaired find their way when traditional guide dogs can't. Developed at Utah State University, the Robotic Guide is a combination of high-tech computer parts and a mobile base that assists the visually impaired in busy areas such as grocery stores, malls, and airports. The robot uses a sensor that hones in on radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The tags, which can be placed discretely in any indoor environment, localize the robot. The user simply reads a Braille directory and selects a target location. The robot, in turn, tells the user where to go relaying information along the way. Once the user reaches the target destination the robot is capable of giving detailed information about specified products, such as where to find the toothpaste on a grocery store shelf. The robot is not intended to replace the guide dog, it merely enhances what a seeing-eye dog can provide. Read the entire story at: http://www.usu.edu/ust/index.cfm?ArticleID=2847 Links: Assisted Navigation in Dynamic and Complex Environments http://kulyukin2k.cs.usu.edu:8001/vkweb/research/sandee.html Vladimir Kulyukin http://kulyukin2k.cs.usu.edu:8001/ --- Team's vision: robotic carts to aid blind shoppers From: EE Times - 04/04/2005 - page 26 By: R. Colin Johnson Robotic carts may soon be available to assist the visually impaired in stores and other public venues, such as airports, by reading RF identification tags to guide users to products or service counters. Read the entire article at: http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=160400531 Links: Robotic Carts May Soon Be Available To Aid The Blind http://www.techweb.com/wire/networking/160403825 Robotic carts to aid the blind http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNCID=36&CIaNID=18417 USU's seeing-eye robot a guide with no wet nose http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2627649 RFID-enabled robots could lead the blind http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000477029688 --- Robot Lends 'a Seeing Eye' for Blind Shoppers From: USA Today - 07/11/2005 - P. 7D By: Ashley Burrell Using a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, Utah State University computer science professor Vladimir Kulyukin and visually impaired colleague Sachin Pavithran have built a prototype Robotic Guide (RG), a device designed to help blind people gain some measure of autonomy by helping them navigate through grocery store aisles, malls, and other places. The RG consists of an off-the-shelf motorized base with rechargeable batteries and a microcontroller that allows the unit to take directions from an attached laptop equipped with a speech synthesis engine; a Braille store directory and numeric keypad so the user can tell the guide what items to search for; and a shopping basket with a handle that the user can hold onto. A laser range finder is used to maneuver around objects, while a radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna finds items by communicating with RFID tags on store shelves. "When the robot reaches a destination--say, the Cheerios cereal shelf in the cereal aisle--the speech-synthesis engine generates an appropriate message telling the user that the Cheerios cereal boxes are on the shelf to his/her right," says Kulyukin. However, the product is not without shortcomings: Users must be familiar with Braille to employ the device, which also cannot access individual items. The developers are attempting to solve the first problem with a speech interface, and the second with the addition of a bar code reader. Although Paul Schroeder with the American Foundation for the Blind finds much to admire in the project, he warns that technology's potential is not always realized in real life. Kulyukin admits that the RG is not ready for commercialization or mass production. Read the entire article at: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2005-07-11-robot-guide_x.htm