Scientists have constructed a robot guide dog to make life more comfortable for the visually challenged with its capability to reply to jerks on a leash.
The team of engineers at Binghamton University’s Computer Science Division has been constructing a robotic seeing-eye dog to advance accessibility for individuals who are visually impaired. Last year, they executed a trick-or-treating experiment with its quadruped robotic dog.
Recently, they have demonstrated a robot dog helping an individual down a lab hallway, surely and cautiously reacting to command instructions. Engineers were astonished that throughout the visually impaired and blind people, so few of them are able to use an actual seeing-eye dog for their entire life. The statistics indicate, only 2 percent of them are able to do that, said Professor Shiqi Zhang, said in a statement.
The restricted use of actual dogs for direction is mostly down to its cost of around $50,000, which needs two to three years of training. Additionally, only about half of the canines that complete their training go on to help the visually impaired individuals. Seeing-eye robot dogs have the possibility to significantly decrease costs, improve efficiency, and improve accessibility, according to the team.
The determination by the team at Binghamton University is one of the first efforts in creating a seeing-eye robot after the discovery and cost reduction of animal technology. After almost a year of growth, the team developed a new leash-tugging interface for use with strengthening learning.
Zhang said, in about 10 hours of training, these robots are able to move around, directing the indoor setting, guiding people, dodging obstacles, and at the similar time, being able to sense the tugs.
The pull interface permits the handler to pull the robot in a certain route in a hallway intersection, causing the robot to change direction in response. Although, the robot shows potential, engineers believe that additional research and development is essential before the technology is appropriate for use in specific settings.
The team informed, next on the program is the addition of a ordinary language interface. The capability could help a visually impaired person to talk with the robot and obtain support, which advances the accessibility feature. Engineers say that smart disobedience is also a helpful skill. For example, if I’m visually impaired and I voice the robot dog to walk into traffic, we would need the robot to recognize that. We should disregard what the human wants in that situation. Those are some future instructions we’re looking into.
Scientists are also in touch with administrations that help them obtain direct and valued feedback from the visually impaired community. Suggestion concerning the danger of abrupt drop-offs in pathways
While the team is not confining the technology’s capabilities, their response and instinct lead them to understand that the robots may be more helpful in some situations. Because the robots can transmit maps of mostly difficult-to-navigate areas, they may be more effective than genuine seeing-eye dogs at controlling visually impaired individuals to their chosen destinations.
Though the research is still in its initial phases, the team feels it is a hopeful step towards growing public area accessibility for the visually impaired community. Zhang said, if this goes well, then possibly in a few years we can establish this seeing-eye robot dog at shopping malls and airports. It is much like how people use common bicycles on campus.
