The purpose of this research is to develop a system which gives blind people information of the environment around them. A person is equipped with a 3D scanner and a small sized PC while walking. The scanner scans and acquires 3D range data map of the environment. The PC analizes the range data map and detects objects which are useful for blind people in orde to walk. The PC gives environmental information to them by synthesized sound. This paper first introduces the concept of the whole system and clarify the tasks for realizing the system. Secondly the method for acquisition of 3D range data and detecting objects and obstacles are described. Then the usefulness of our proposed system is examined by an experiment in which our trial system detects bumps and trenches in the experimental environment.

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PEFC has water management issues, such as flooding, where condensate blocks the pores of the gas-diffusion-layer, and plugging, where condensate blocks the gas channels. We confirmed that the flooding/plugging phenomena, in the anode gas channel, occur in low humidity when water is transported from the cathode to the anode through the membrane. Moreover, we have been developing a high performance separator. The high performance separator is composed of two channels of gas and drainage, and a water-absorption-layer (WAL) between GDL and the current collector. The WAL is a porous material made of stainless steel that absorbs the condensate from the GDL and the gas channel. The water absorbed by the WAL is supplied to the electrolyte membrane. The water supersaturated in the WAL is exhausted outside the cell through the drainage channel. We implemented a WAL in a fuel cell made of stainless steel and evaluated its effectiveness.

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