A Walking Assistant Robotic System for the Visually Impaired Based on Computer Vision and Tactile Perception

作者：Ni, Dejing; Song, Aiguo^*; Tian, Lei; Xu, Xiaonong; Chen, Danfeng

来源：International Journal of Social Robotics, 2015, 7(5): 617-628.

DOI：10.1007/s12369-015-0313-z

• Computer vision
• Tactile perception
• Vibration modes
• Walking assistant robotic

It is a challenging task for the visually impaired to perceive environment information and walk independently. This paper presents a novel design of a walking assistant robotic system based on computer vision and tactile perception. A novel rollator structure is applied to provide a strong physical support. A Kinect device is used as eyes of the visually impaired to capture the front environment information including color images and depth images. And ultrasonic sensors are utilized to detect the evenness of road surface. A wearable vibro-tactile belt is designed to provide the visually impaired with the environment information through different vibration modes. A feature extraction method of safe directions based on depth image compression is proposed. Background difference method is used to realize moving object detection in order to help the visually impaired perceive environment conditions. The experiment results show that the wearable vibro-tactile belt is practical and the walking assistant robotic system is effective and helpful in aiding the visually impaired to walk independently.

• 出版日期2015-11
• 单位东南大学