A guidance robot for the visually impaired: System description and velocity reference generation

Ogawa, Hironori; Tobita, Kazuteru; Sagayama, Katsuyuki; Tomizuka, Masayoshi

doi:10.1109/cirat.2014.7009735

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Following a different approach, several authors have proposed robotic systems to assist or to guide visually impaired people [ 7 , 8 ]. Most of them consist of a robotic platform with different sensors (cameras, laser range finders, sonar, etc .)…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although several drawbacks have been mentioned regarding the proposals described in this section, all of them present quite interesting systems that perform properly in the scenarios considered by the authors of the research. Consequently, these systems can be appropriate for small areas [ 2 , 3 ], low budget requirements [ 3 , 6 ], or environments with obstacles whose position may change [ 3 , 7 , 8 ]. However, the key requirements for our scenario are accuracy and reliability in large areas.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several projects have addressed the problem of indoor navigation for visually impaired people in many different ways [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. However, as will be seen, they have some drawbacks that jeopardize their practical usability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design, Implementation and Evaluation of an Indoor Navigation System for Visually Impaired People

Martinez-Sala

Losilla

Sánchez-Aarnoutse

et al. 2015

Sensors

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Indoor navigation is a challenging task for visually impaired people. Although there are guidance systems available for such purposes, they have some drawbacks that hamper their direct application in real-life situations. These systems are either too complex, inaccurate, or require very special conditions (i.e., rare in everyday life) to operate. In this regard, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology has been shown to be effective for indoor positioning, providing a high level of accuracy and low installation complexity. This paper presents SUGAR, an indoor navigation system for visually impaired people which uses UWB for positioning, a spatial database of the environment for pathfinding through the application of the A* algorithm, and a guidance module. The interaction with the user takes place using acoustic signals and voice commands played through headphones. The suitability of the system for indoor navigation has been verified by means of a functional and usable prototype through a field test with a blind person. In addition, other tests have been conducted in order to show the accuracy of different relevant parts of the system.

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Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Design, Implementation and Evaluation of an Indoor Navigation System for Visually Impaired People

Martinez-Sala

Losilla

Sánchez-Aarnoutse

et al. 2015

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Categorically, ETAs can be grouped into robotic navigation aids (RNA), smartphone-based systems and wearable attachments. RNA is a type of machinery that carries itself [4]. Usually in the form of wheeled robot, it possesses simpler mechanical and dynamics requirements [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodologies and evaluation of electronic travel aids for the visually impaired people: a review

et al. 2021

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Technological advancements have widely contributed to navigation aids. However, their large-scale adaptation for navigation solutions for visually impaired people haven’t been realized yet. Less participation of the visually impaired subject produces a designer-oriented navigation system which overshadows consumer necessity. The outcome results in trust and safety issues, hindering the navigation aids from really contribute to the safety of the targeted end user. This study categorizes electronic travel aids (ETAs) based on experimental evaluations, highlights the designer-centred development of navigation aids with insufficient participation of the visual impaired community. First the research breaks down the methodologies to achieve navigation, followed by categorization of the test and experimentation done to evaluate the systems and ranks it by maturity order. From 70 selected research articles, 51.4% accounts for simulation evaluation, 24.3% involve blindfolded-sighted humans, 22.9% involve visually impaired people and only 1.4% makes it into production and commercialization. Our systematic review offers a bird’s eye view on ETA development and evaluation and contributes to construction of navigational aids which really impact the target group of visually impaired people.

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“…A LiDAR sensor provides a solution for mobile applications where the system needs to be compact, lightweight and handy [1,2]. It has a 360˚degree field of view [3], possesses high accuracy of distance measurement and in contrast to a camera, it does not depend on the light intensity of the surroundings [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel CE-CBCE feature extraction method for object classification using a low-density LiDAR point cloud

et al. 2021

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Low-end LiDAR sensor provides an alternative for depth measurement and object recognition for lightweight devices. However due to low computing capacity, complicated algorithms are incompatible to be performed on the device, with sparse information further limits the feature available for extraction. Therefore, a classification method which could receive sparse input, while providing ample leverage for the classification process to accurately differentiate objects within limited computing capability is required. To achieve reliable feature extraction from a sparse LiDAR point cloud, this paper proposes a novel Clustered Extraction and Centroid Based Clustered Extraction Method (CE-CBCE) method for feature extraction followed by a convolutional neural network (CNN) object classifier. The integration of the CE-CBCE and CNN methods enable us to utilize lightweight actuated LiDAR input and provides low computing means of classification while maintaining accurate detection. Based on genuine LiDAR data, the final result shows reliable accuracy of 97% through the method proposed.

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A guidance robot for the visually impaired: System description and velocity reference generation

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

Design, Implementation and Evaluation of an Indoor Navigation System for Visually Impaired People

Design, Implementation and Evaluation of an Indoor Navigation System for Visually Impaired People

Methodologies and evaluation of electronic travel aids for the visually impaired people: a review

Novel CE-CBCE feature extraction method for object classification using a low-density LiDAR point cloud

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