NRI: A Wearable Robotic Object Manipulation Aid for the Visually Impaired

NRI：针对视障人士的可穿戴机器人物体操纵辅助工具

• 批准号: 9050942
• 负责人: Yantao Shen
• 金额: $ 28.07万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-02 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9050942
• 关键词: Address; Blindness; Canes; Code; Communities; Companions; Computer Vision Systems; Data; Detection; Development; Devices; Encapsulated; Engineering; Environment; Funding; Future; Goals; Grant; Graph; Hand; Healthcare; High School Student; Human; Hybrids; Image; Independent Living; Individual; Instruction; Law Enforcement; Maps; Methods; Military Personnel; Mission; Modeling; Motion; Movement; National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; Performance; Persons; Polymers; Public Health; Quality of life; Recruitment Activity; Rehabilitation therapy; Research; Research Infrastructure; Robot; Robotics; Rotation; Scheme; Science; Self-Help Devices; Solid; Solutions; Speech; Speed; Students; System; Tactile; Testing; Thumb structure; Time; Training; Translations; Travel; United States National Institutes of Health; Universities; Visual; Visual impairment; Visually Impaired Persons; Work; base; blind; career; design; experience; graduate student; grasp; improved; innovation; new technology; novel; object recognition; object shape; programs; research study; robotic device; tactile display; undergraduate student

PROJECT SUMMARY (See instructions): The objective of the proposed research is to develop new technology for a Wearable Robotic Object Manipulation Aid (W-ROMA) for the visually impaired. The W-ROMA is a hand-worn assistive device that provides assistance to a visually impaired individual in effectively grasping an object. Thanks to the onboard computer vision methods, the W-ROMA is capable of detecting a target object, determining the hand-object misalignment, and conveying to the wearer, via natural human-device interfaces, the desired hand motion for hand-object alignment. The W-ROMA will contribute to the independent lives of the visually impaired in twofold: First, it helps the visually impaired with independent travel by enabling them to identify a movable obstacle and manipulate the obstacle to make a passage. Second, it assists the visually impaired in effectively grasping an object for non-navigational purpose. The PIs will involve graduate, undergraduate and high school students in the project and use the proposed project activities to recruit and retain engineering students. The proposal's Intellectual Merit is the development of new computer vision and human-robot interaction methods that support accurate and effective object grasping for the visually impaired for their independent daily lives. These methods include: (1) a new real-time object recognition method; (2) an innovative hand-object alignment mechanism; (3) a novel hybrid tactile display system for object shape rendering; and (4) a computationally efficient device localization method. The proposed solutions can be encapsulated in a hand-worn robotic device. The W-ROMA will provide new co-robotic functions for the visually impaired. The PIs have performed proof of concept studies for the computer vision and tactile display methods and the results are promising. The broader impacts include: (1) the research will positively impact the large visually impaired community; (2) the proposed methods can be applied to other small robotic systems that have a wide range of applications in military surveillance, law enforcement, and search and rescue; and (3) the project will improve the research infrastructure of the PI's university and train graduate and undergraduate students for their future careers in science and engineering.

项目摘要（请参阅说明）： 拟议的研究的目的是为视力障碍开发可穿戴机器人对象操纵辅助（W-ROMA）的新技术。 W-ROMA是一种手工破坏的辅助设备，可为有效抓住物体的视觉障碍个体提供辅助。多亏了计算机上的计算机视觉方法，W-Roma能够通过自然的人体设备接口来检测目标对象，确定手动对象的未对准并传达给佩戴者，这是所需的手动对准的手动运动。 W-Roma将在双重障碍的视力障碍的独立生活中做出贡献：首先，它通过使他们能够识别出可移动的障碍并操纵障碍物来帮助视力障碍。其次，它有助于有效地抓住一个物体以实现非范围的目的，有助于视力受损。 PI将涉及研究生，本科生和高中生参加该项目，并使用拟议的项目活动来招募和保留工程专业的学生。该提案的知识优点是开发新的计算机愿景和人类机器人互动方法，这些方法支持对其独立日常生活的视力障碍的准确和有效的对象掌握。这些方法包括：（1）一种新的实时对象识别方法； （2）创新的手动对准机制； （3）一种用于物体形状渲染的新型混合触觉显示系统； （4）一种计算有效的设备定位方法。所提出的解决方案可以封装在手工戴的机器人装置中。 W-ROMA将为视力障碍提供新的共射击功能。 PI对计算机视觉和触觉显示方法进行了概念研究证明，结果很有希望。更广泛的影响包括：（1）研究将对大型视力障碍社区产生积极影响； （2）拟议的方法可以应用于其他在军事监视，执法和搜救中具有广泛应用的小型机器人系统； （3）该项目将改善PI大学的研究基础设施，并为他们在科学和工程领域的未来职业而培训毕业生和本科生。