Designing a LiDAR topographic navigation system: A novel approach to aid the visually impaired
The WHO reports 2.2 billion people internationally have a form of visual impairment, with Perkins School of Blind adding that 4 to 8 percent (8.8 - 17.6 million people) solely rely on a white cane for navigation. In an interview by Stephen Yin for NPR, visually impaired interviewees claimed that a white cane was ineffective as it failed to detect moving obstacles (ex. bikes), aerial obstacles (ex. falling objects), and it became physically demanding after a prolonged period. This problem can be solved with a headset that integrates LiDAR technology and haptic feedback to provide a real-time assessment of their environment. Theoretically, the device will determine how far an object is from the user and place it into one of three conditionals based on distance (0- 290mm, 310-500mm, 510-1200mm). As the user gets closer to the object, the haptic will vibrate more frequently. The device has 11 LIDAR sensors, beetle processors, and ERM motors so that when the LiDAR detects an object, the device will send a haptic signal in that area. It not only identifies the existence of an object but it tells the user its relative position with a latency period of approximately 2 milliseconds. When testing the device, a simulated walking environment was made. Ten obstacles were included: five below the waist (72”, 28”, 35” and 8.5” tall sticks) and five above the waist (paper suspended 6”, 10”, 48” and 28” from the ceiling). The white cane detected 4.1 obstacles, whereas the device detected 7.3 on average. The LiDAR navigation system is 178% more effective at detecting objects comparatively. Visually impaired individuals no longer must rely on the white cane; rather, using this device, they can detect small, moving, and aerial objects at a much faster, and more accurate speed.
朽木生花-初探以中藥萃取液對木材染色之防蟲抑菌效果
In our experiment, we used traditional Chinese medicine to dye on cheap wood, in addition to avoiding the impact of chemical paint on human body; After dyeing, the color and texture quality of the wood are improved, which makes cheap wood have higher price and improves the value of wood; At the same time, it can reduce the felling of slow growing precious wood, which has the functions of environmental protection, earth love and carbon saving. The test material was pretreated with hydrogen peroxide and surfactant, and the bleaching effect was obvious. After dyed with different Chinese medicinal, soak in strong acid and alkali solution for 15 minutes, which shows that strong acid and acid treatment is not allowed. On the other hand, after 15 minutes of immersion in detergent, the color difference value is less than 2, and the rubbing fastness is above grade 4. In the bacteriostasis experiment, no fungus grew in the first 3 days, and it did not grow in the 12th day. In the anti-termite experiment, the mortality rate on the fifth day was 65% for Lithospermum and 83.8% for Wolfberry, and the other groups had a good effect of total elimination. While plastic products have a great impact on the environment, wood that is dyed or modified with natural colored dye, its environmental value far exceeds the human visual perception.