A blind traveler walking through an unfamiliar environment, and a mobile robot navigating through a cluttered environment have an important feature in common: both have the kinematic ability to perform the motion, but are depended on a sensory system to detect and avoid obstacles. This paper describes the use of a mobile robot obstacle avoidance system as a guidance device for blind and visually impaired people. Just as electronic signals are sent to a mobile robot's motor controllers, auditory signals can guide the blind traveler around obstacles, or alternatively, they can provide an "acoustic image" of the surroundings. The concept has been implemented and tested in a new travel aid for the blind, called the Navbelt. The Navbelt introduces two new concepts to electronic travel aids for the blind: it provides information not only about obstacles along the traveled path, but also assists the user in selecting the preferred travel path. In addition, the level of assistance can be automatically adjusted according to changes in the environment and the user's needs and capabilities Experimental results conducted with the Navbelt simulator and a portable experimental prototype are presented.

This paper presents a new concept for a travel aid for the blind. A prototype device, called the NavBelt, was developed to test this concept. The device can be used as a primary or secondary aid, and consists of a portable computer, ultrasonic sensors, and stereophonic headphones. The computer applies navigation and obstacle avoidance technologies that were developed originally for mobile robots. The computer then uses a stereophonic imaging technique to process the signals from the ultrasonic sensors and relays their information to the user via stereophonic headphones. The user can interpret the information as an acoustic "picture" of the surroundings, or, depending on the operational mode, as the recommended travel direction. The acoustic signals are transmitted as discrete beeps or continuous sounds. Experimental results with the NavBelt simulator and a portable prototype show that users can travel safely in an unfamiliar and cluttered environment at speeds of up to 0.8 m/s.

A blind traveler walking through an unfamiliar environment, and a mobile robot navigating through a cluttered environment have an important feature in common: both have the kinematic ability to perform the motion, but are depended on a sensory system to detect and avoid obstacles. This paper describes the use of a mobile robot obstacle avoidance system as a guidance device for blind and visually impaired people. Just like electronic signals are sent to a mobile robot's motor controllers, auditory signals can guide the blind traveler around obstacles, or alternatively, they can provide an "acoustic image" of the surroundings. The concept has been implemented and tested in a new traveling aid for the blind, called the Navbelt. Experimental results of subjects traveling with the Navbelt in different surroundings are presented.

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A continuous measure of symmetry and the Voronoi entropy of 2D patterns representing Voronoi diagrams emerging from the Penrose tiling were calculated. A given Penrose tiling gives rise to a diversity of the Voronoi diagrams when the centers, vertices, and the centers of the edges of the Penrose rhombs are taken as the seed points (or nuclei). Voronoi diagrams keep the initial symmetry group of the Penrose tiling. We demonstrate that the continuous symmetry measure and the Voronoi entropy of the studied sets of points, generated by the Penrose tiling, do not necessarily correlate. Voronoi diagrams emerging from the centers of the edges of the Penrose rhombs, considered nuclei, deny the hypothesis that the continuous measure of symmetry and the Voronoi entropy are always correlated. The Voronoi entropy of this kind of tiling built of asymmetric convex quadrangles equals zero, whereas the continuous measure of symmetry of this pattern is high. Voronoi diagrams generate new types of Penrose tiling, which are different from the classical Penrose tessellation.

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The mini-generator of electrical energy exploiting Marangoni soluto-capillary flows is reported. The interfacial flows are created by molecules of camphor emitted by the “camphor engines” placed on floating polymer rotors bearing permanent magnets. Camphor molecules adsorbed by the water/vapor interface decrease its surface tension and create the stresses resulting in the rotation of the system. The alternative magnetic flux in turn creates the current in the stationary coil. The long-lasting nature of rotation (approximately 10–20 h) should be emphasized. The brake-specific fuel consumption of the reported generator is better than that reported for the best reported electrical generators. Various engineering implementations of the mini-generator are reported.