Hands-Free Dog Walking for the Digital Age
From: Product Design & Development - 09/03/2013

What if there were a way to command your dog with a remote control, or even
via your smart phone - or even without hands?

Jeff Miller and David Bevly of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, have devised just such a system and
describe details in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of
Modelling, Identification and Control. The device based on a control suite
with a microprocessor, wireless radio, GPS receiver, and an attitude and
heading reference system provides autonomous guidance of the canine using an
embedded command module with vibration and tone generation capabilities.
Tests in a structure and non-structured environment show obedience accuracy
up to almost 98%.

They also point out a similar system might be extended to a variety of
applications including a haptic feedback GPS system to assist navigation by
the visually impaired.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.pddnet.com/news/2013/09/hands-free-dog-walking-digital-age

Links:
Autonomous Navigation and Control of a K-9
http://gavlab.auburn.edu/projects.php?id=18

David Bevly
http://www.eng.auburn.edu/~dmbevly/

Jeff Miller
http://gavlab.auburn.edu/people.php?id=26

Department of Mechanical Engineering at Auburn University
http://www.eng.auburn.edu/mech/