Can a robot mimic the functionality of a standard guide dog to help lead the visually impaired in a less expensive, more reliable way? That is the question we wish to answer in our senior design project for the 2015-2016 year. If successful, our vehicle will be able to lead its user around their everyday environment while avoiding obstacles and simultaneously warning of high profile objects such as street curbs and traffic signals.
The average cost of training guide dogs and their users in America is $42,000, according to the official website for Guide Dogs of America. This does not include the cost associated with caring for a living animal. You can see how organizations such as Guide Dogs of America, who give their trained animals away for free, might be looking for a cheaper alternative. It is often difficult to ensure that a guide dog will be compatible with its handler even after the training has taken place. There are numerous cases of frustration where new handlers are not able to control their guide dogs properly and have to find a new dog. With our project we aim to eliminate the training process and provide those with visual impairment a superior alternative to the standard guide dog.
We have put a lot of effort into building a robotic vehicle that can mimic all the tasks a guide dog handles in a typical day. Our project also provides additional functionality and ease of use that is not possible with current guide dogs. We hope that the work we have done will open doors for future research and development in this important area of study.