Stairs Detection for Enhancing Wheelchair Capabilities Based on Radar Sensors

Powered wheelchair users encounter barriers to their mobility everyday. Entering a building with non barrier-free areas can massively impact the user mobility related activities. There are a few commercial devices and some experimental that can climb stairs using for instance adaptive wheels with joints or caterpillar drive. These systems rely on the use for sensing and control. For safe automated obstacle crossing, a robust and environment invariant detection of the surrounding is necessary. Radar may prove to be a suitable sensor for its capability to handle harsh outdoor environmental conditions. In this paper, we introduce a mirror based two dimensional Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave (FMCW) radar scanner for stair detection. A radar image based stair dimensioning approach is presented and tested under laboratory and realistic conditions.Comment: 5 pages, Accepted and presented in 2017 IEEE 6th Global Conference on Consumer Electronics (GCCE 2017

On-Road Evaluation of Driver Capability: A Medical Record Review of the Adaptive Driving Program

a) The purpose of the present study was to illustrate how driver capability could be measured based on the presence of assistance during on-road evaluation. As an objective, this study explored the potential of a new method to measure declines in driver independence (steering/braking assistance) and safety (driving cues) for driver fitness determinations. b) A study at the Adaptive Driving Program (ADP) was conducted through a medical record review of 132 clients served in 2009. Following creation of an enumerated list of unique errors committed in baseline driving sessions, follow-up analysis focused on the association between assistance during on-road evaluation and case outcomes. The analysis also involved associations between assistance and five classes of errors reported among all clients. c) Findings showed that the proposed measures of driver independence and safety were associated with 90% of clients that did not pass on-road evaluation and a majority of errors related to tracking vehicle position within a lane. Though documented assistance showed low association to four out of five classes of errors, the potential for detection of these assistedevents may be 60-80% of all errors in each class except for lane changes

Three Dimentional Computer Vision-Based Alternative Control Method for Assistive Robotic Manipulator

JACO (Kinova Technology, Montreal, QC, Canada) is an assistive robotic manipulator that is gaining popularity for its ability to assist individuals with physical impairments in activities of daily living. To accommodate a wider range of user population especially those with severe physical limitations, alternative control methods need to be developed. In this paper, we presented a vision-based assistive robotic manipulation assistance algorithm (AROMA) for JACO, which uses a low-cost 3D depth sensing camera and an improved inverse kinematic algorithm to enable semi-autonomous or autonomous operation of the JACO. The benchtop tests on a series of grasping tasks showed that the AROMA was able to reliably determine target gripper poses. The success rates for the grasping tasks ranged from 85% to 100% for different objects

ARoMA-V2: Assistive Robotic Manipulation Assistance with Computer Vision and Voice Recognition

We have designed and developed a handy alternative control method, called ARoMA-V2 (Assistive Robotic Manipulation Assistance with computer Vision and Voice recognition), for controlling assistive robotic manipulators based on computer vision and user voice recognition. Potential advantages of ARoMA-V2 over the traditional alternatives include: providing completely hands-free operation; helping a user to maintain a better working posture; Allowing the user to work in postures that otherwise would not be effective for operating an assistive robotic manipulator (i.e., reclined in a chair or bed); supporting task specific commands; providing the user with different levels of intelligent autonomous manipulation assistances; giving the user the feeling that he or she is still in control at any moment; and being compatible with different types of new and existing assistive robotic manipulators

The New Oxford Shakespeare Project at IUPUI

poster abstractBecause Shakespeare is the world’s most canonical and most commercially successful secular author, his works have been edited more than any other author. Editions of Shakespeare’s canon are usually based on commercial incentives rather than scholarly preparation; as a result, most editions re-package older ones and do not strive to rethink previous editing in light of more recent scholarship about the Shakespeare canon. The New Oxford Shakespeare editors, staff, and student assistants, however, are revisiting and rethinking the Shakespeare canon from the ground up. Due for publication in October 2016, this exciting new edition of Shakespeare’s Complete Works features the collaborative efforts of an international team of scholars, editors, and IUPUI faculty and students – working alongside each other over a seven year term on IUPUI’s campus. The research involved in this project is cutting edge and completely new to the discipline. We work from archived original printed texts (no manuscript in Shakespeare’s hand exists), and because we are creating the first multi-format, multi-platform Shakespeare edition in history, we approach the work from a three-tiered paradigm, including pedagogy, theatre practice, and computational stylistics. The completed five-volume edition will give readers deeper and multifaceted access to all of Shakespeare’s works: the traditional canon, alternative texts, and collaborative texts. Aiming to satisfy the needs of different users, an old spelling edition will preserve spelling, punctuation, and layout of the earliest texts while a Modern Spelling Edition will utilize recent pedagogical innovations to serve as a 21st century classroom text. The New Oxford Shakespeare will make Shakespeare more accessible to 21st century readers by engaging them through multiple editions and multiple types of media. The New Oxford Shakespeare will empower teacher-scholars to demonstrate Shakespeare’s work in performance and in process. We are the new face of Shakespeare

ISWP Wheelchair Double Drum Test Version 1.3

This document outlines the required materials and proper assembly instructions for the International Society of Wheelchair Professionals Standard Testing -- Wheelchair Double Drum Testing Machine in compliance with RESNA WC-1 ISO 7176 standards that require performing 200,000 revolutions at a speed of 1 m/s +/- 0.1 m/s. Following the detailed assembly instructions are a bill of materials and 2-dimensional drawings for all of the sub-assemblies and their individual parts. This document outlines the electrical requirements and recommendations to successfully build this equipment, however specific electrical components and electrical assembly instructions are to be determined by the user

ISWP Wheelchair Curb Drop Test Version 1.3

This document outlines the required materials and proper assembly instructions for the International Society of Wheelchair Professionals Standard Testing --Wheelchair Curb Drop Testing Machine in compliance with RESNA WC-1/ ISO 7176 standards that require dropping the wheelchair from a height of 50 mm for 6,666 cycles. Following the detailed assembly instructions are a bill of materials and 2-dimensional drawings for all of the sub-assemblies and their individual parts. This document outlines the electrical requirements and recommendations

Accurate Mental Maps as an Aspect of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK): A Case Study from Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland

A mental map of the substrate of Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland, compiled from interviews with local fishermen, is compared with maps produced by science-based techniques. The comparison reveals that the mental map is highly accurate. This finding contrasts with the spatial distortion characteristic of the classic mental map. The accuracy of the Lough Neagh map is attributed to the fact that it is a compendium of the knowledge of several generations, rather than an individual perception. Individual distortions are filtered out, and accuracy is promoted by economic self-interest. High accuracy may be characteristic of the mental maps held by artisanal exploiters of natural resources