RFID-Equipped Robots Used as Guide Dogs

Roland Piquepaille writes "A professor in computer science at the Utah State University (USU) is building robots to help people with disabilities, according to the Utah Statesman in this article. The story, which is more focused on the professor than robotics, carries several anecdotes, such as an embarrassing voice recognition system. After a blind man cleared his throat, the robot misinterpreted the sound as a sign that the man wanted to go to the bathroom. Later, every time a man cleared his throat before speaking, the robot changed directions and insisted to guide him to the restrooms. Even if the article is entertaining, this project at USU is far more ambitious. In fact, they want to design RFID-enabled robots mounted on mobile carts which will welcome blind persons at the entrance of a supermarket and guide them through the store. I bet you'll never find those carts at a Wal-Mart store, but read more for other details, references and pictures about these RFID-equipped robots designed to help blind people."

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[Anonymous Coward]

RFID-Equipped Robots Used as Guide Dogs

A professor in computer science at the Utah State University (USU) is building robots to help people with disabilities, according to the Utah Statesman in this article . The story, which is more focused on the professor than robotics, carries several anecdotes, such as an embarrassing voice recognition system. After a blind man cleared his throat, the robot misinterpreted the sound as a sign that the man wanted to go to the bathroom. Later, every time a man cleared his throat before speaking, the robot changed directions and insisted to guide him to the restrooms. Even if the article is entertaining, this project at USU is far more ambitious. In fact, they want to design RFID-enabled robots mounted on mobile carts which will welcome blind persons at the entrance of a supermarket and guide them through the store. I bet you'll never find those carts at a Wal-Mart store, but read more...

First, let's look in detail at the failure of the voice recognition system.

Vladimir Kulyukin, assistant professor in the department of computer science, works jointly as a computer science researcher and for the

Center for Persons with Disabilities . He said he had an especially embarrassing moment here at the Center for Persons with Disabilities involving a robot and a speech recognition system.

"We figured we could speak to the robot in English, and using the voice recognition system the robot would interpret the commands and obey them. I quickly realized that just wasn't possible," he said.

He said a blind man found the glitch in the system when he cleared his throat and the robot misunderstood the sound to mean the man wanted to go to the bathroom.

"Every time the man cleared his throat, the robot would immediately change directions and guide him into the bathroom," he said. "It was an especially embarrassing moment in my research," he added.

Of course, this is only a very small part of the project, which will deploy radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for use in robot-assisted indoor navigation for the visually impaired.

"Simply speaking, we are trying to develop a robot for use as a mobile grocery cart used for the blind in supermarkets," he said. "The robot would meet the blind person at the door and, by the push of a button, would lead the person to different areas of the store."

Kulyukin said the robot would ideally be mounted on mobile carts, but the level of funding for the technology here at USU is not sufficient for marketing the project.

But they already built prototypes. And below are two pictures showing this RFID-equipped robotic guide (RG) for visually impaired people (Credit: Vladimir Kulyukin)

For more information, here is a link to Vladimir Kulyukin home page -- which is not always available. From there, you'll have access to various pages covering his research interests and his publications.

You might also want to read a paper named "RFID in Robot-Assisted Indoor Navigation for the Visually Impaired," available as a PDF document (6 pages, 124 KB). Here is the abstract.

We describe how Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) can be used in robot-assisted indoor navigation for the visually impaired. We present a robotic guide for the visually impaired that was deployed and tested both with and without visually impaired participants in two indoor environments. We describe how we modified the sta

Re:Read more what ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, it's nothing new, Roland dupes posts for profit.

Re:Not at Walmart?

[Khith]

I actually work as one of those greeters (which isn't as easy as it sounds, most of the time), so I know the carts you speak of and the people who use them.

I've not once had a blind person driving one of those things. They're just motorized carts. They don't know where you want to go.

Hell, I don't trust some of the sighted people with driving those things! They'll forget how to stop (let go of the controls, it's not hard!) and end up hitting the wall, the door, merchandise, or you.

The blind people who DO enter are almost always accompanied by a friend who helps them through the store. (even when they have a service dog)

Cost-benefit analysis

[westendgirl]

I'd like to see a projected cost-benefit analysis for robots vs service dogs. My sister is raising a puppy that will eventually become a service dog for people with hearing disabilities and other challenges (but not blindness). As a puppy raiser, my sister encounters several challenges, both financial and social:

permission from her landlord to raise a puppy for 18 months

permission from her employer to bring the puppy to work every day

mandatory attendance of weekly training courses

purchases of collar, leash, haltis

responsible for any medical costs under $500

daily socialization, including shopping malls, grocery stores, buses, doctor's and dentist's offices, theatres, movies, restaurants, elevators and sporting events.

(This is particularly challenging, since many store owners refuse to admit the dog, despite my sister's possession of a government-issued ID that explains the dog is a service dog. People often say, "But you're not blind!" -- they don't understand that people with hearing problems, as well as invisible disabilities, have these dogs, let alone that people need to train them first.)

Raising a puppy is serious work, but imagine you also need to teach that puppy to ignore food, stop at crosswalks, not chase sticks, ignore animals, and otherwise suppress many instincts. This requires an enormous amount of energy.

Those are just the requirements for the people raising dogs from 10 weeks through 18 months. For breeders and caretakers of puppies under 10 weeks, the people cannot work outside the home -- and they must take on many of the same challenges as the puppy raisers. As for dogs who finish basic training (at 18 months), many must move on to basic training with new trainers, who take on much the same role as the puppy raisers. Finally, after all of this work, the dog can be placed with a client (person with a disability) for specialized training.

Recruiting puppy breeders, raisers, and advanced trainers is a challenge for service dog societies, which also need to subsidize food, training and other products. And clients will eventually need to feed and care for the dogs. This is not a small amount of money.

Given all of these challenges, it would be interesting to see how a robot stacks up. If a robot cost $10,000 plus batteries, perhaps this is not actually much higher than the "value" of a dog that has been through 18+ months of training and must still be fed and cared for -- volunteer time and effects on the puppy raiser's workplace productivity should also be included in the calculation. Certainly, a robot may not provide companionship, but it may not be such a bad idea. With more time on their hands, volunteers could actually provide other programs for clients. Robots could be pre-programmed, so that the first 18-24 months of dog training could be skipped. And you don't need to buy kibble for a robot.

Assistance dogs are not (usually) protectors

[westendgirl]

My sister is raising a puppy for a service dog (assistance dog) program. Assistance dogs are not trained to provide protection or to be aggressive in any way. Because they are leashed and harnessed, they would be at a disadvantage during an attack or threatening situation. If a such a situation occurs, the assistance dog handler is supposed to drop the leash -- if the dog was acting aggressively, the handler might not be able to tell why (e.g. if the handler is blind) or they might be without the valuable assistance that the dog provides (e.g. physical support). If the dog is injured, the handler would be without a guide, which can be scary and dangerous.

An assistance dog that has been attacked or in an otherwise threatening situation may be scarred for life and may not be able to continue as a guide/service dog.

Granted, training programs for assistance dogs may vary from place to place. However, when I checked a few websites (as well as that for the society for which my sister raises a puppy), I could not find any that say these dogs provide protection against intruders/attackers.