Robot Could Guide Humans through Areas of Low Visibility
From: The Engineer (UK) - 04/08/2011
By: Jason Ford 

Sheffield Hallam University researchers are participating in a
multi-disciplinary project to develop a robot that can guide humans in areas
of low visibility. The robot, which will be slightly larger than a laptop,
could be used by firefighters and by the blind or visually impaired. The
robot features lead-like tethers, or reins, that it uses to communicate with
users. The researchers are developing three different types of reins.
Flexible reins will transmit explicit information that is generated by the
pull of the rein, while stiff reins will provide implicit feedback. The
researchers also are developing a wireless reins system that is similar to
the Nintendo Wii handset. The robot must create some confidence for the human
using it, says Sheffield Hallam's Jacques Penders. Another challenge will be
to choose whether the information the robot uses should be explicit or
implicit. Penders says the flexible rein will likely need explicit
information while the stiff-reined machine will probably provide implicit
feedback. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/electronics/news/robot-could-guide-humans-through-areas-of-low-visibility/1008224.article

Links:
Jacques Penders
http://www.shu.ac.uk/research/meri/profiles/j_penders.html

View Finder Project
http://www.shu.ac.uk/research/meri/mmvl/research/projects/viewfinder/index.html

Guardians Project
http://www.shu.ac.uk/research/meri/mmvl/research/projects/guardians/index.html