2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Research of the devices which assist activities of the visually impaired without help of others
| Project/Area Number |
12832056
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Institution | Tokai University |
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Principal Investigator |
MAGATANI Kazushige Tokai University, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Professor, 電子情報学部, 教授 (00181610)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2000 – 2002
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| Keywords | the visually impaired / navigation / DGPS / infrared beacon / colored line / intelligent white cane |
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| Research Abstract |
The objective of this study is the development of devices which support activities of the visually impaired without help of others. For this aim, we have developed following 3 navigation systems for the visually impaired.
1. The auto navigation system which measures the position of a subject by DGPS and navigates a route to the destination using digital map database.
2. The navigation system which is used in the indoor space. This system is composed of optical beacons and an optical receiver.
3. Intelligent white cane which can trace colored line which is set on the floor of the institution.
In first system, after inputting the destination, position of a subject is estimated, the most suitable route to the destination is calculated, and a subject is guided along this route. In this system, to obtain the position of a subject, DGPS technique is used usually. If DGPS does not work, self positioning method is used.
In second system, our objective of this study is the development of the navigation system which is used in indoor space, and supports activities of the visually impaired without help of others. This system is composed of optical beacons which are set on the ceiling and emit the position code as infrared signal, an optical receiver which receives and demodulates infrared signal from optical beacons, and a handy computer which guides a subject by artificial voice.
Intelligent white cane which can trace colored line which is set on the floor of the institution. A color sensor is set on the tip of a cane. This sensor detects the selected color, and the system informs a subject of detection by using vibration of white cane. Therefore, a subject can follow the route to the destination which is indicated by the colored line.
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