併用電子感測器與機械爪輪之電子導盲輔具之研發

Abstract

人的各項行動中有70%以上仰賴視覺，一旦視覺發生障礙，不僅是料理生活、課業與工作遇到重重問題，甚至寸步難行，因此導盲輔具對於視障者實為一項重要的生活必需品。目前使用最普遍的導盲輔具為白手杖，但有前進速度緩慢，點狀偵測障礙物有漏洞等缺點；另外也有導盲犬之應用，但因其訓練不易、價格昂貴，目前在台灣社會接受度尚低，使用並不普遍。近年來，國內外開始有實驗室運用現有科技開發「電子導盲輔具」(electric travel aids, ETA)，但多半仍有價格昂貴、資料處理速度緩慢、人機介面不友善、無法偵測坑洞等許多缺點有待改進。 故本研究欲解決現有輔具於感測範圍不足之問題，發展出一爪輪式導盲輔具，可即時偵測視障者前方與人同高之障礙與凹陷路面。其構造類似一接觸地面的手杖，其上方手杖部分裝設有電子感測元件，可偵測盲人臉部及軀幹前方懸空區域之障礙物；而下方以小輪接觸地面，透過小輪、手杖可直接傳達路面起伏資訊給視障者，並自小輪軸向前伸出數支爪輪，用以偵測前方路面是否有突出或低陷等危險路況；最後將各感測訊號經由電控系統傳達讓盲人知悉。 本研究並以此研發之概念，實際做出一原型輔具進行測試，並與白手杖進行定性分析比較。根據本研究實驗結果，本研究在視障導盲輔具上，針對目前視障者在步行以及導盲輔具上的需求，提供了一個不但可偵測人體軀幹前方全域障礙狀況，亦可偵測與辨識凹陷路面的步行輔具構想。而此推行式導盲輔具，在感測範圍、感測連續性、及步行時間三點的性能，相較於今日使用廣泛的白手杖，有所進步與改善；在整體的感測性能上，亦有明顯的提升。此研究結果驗證了本研究之設計概念，達到了預期的研究目標。

More than 70 percent of human daily activities rely on vision. If people get sight problem or lose their sights, they can’t do anything at all. Therefore, travel aids are very important necessities for the blind. At present, the most popular travel aids used universally are white canes which detect obstacles by knocking ground. But knocking ground makes walking speed slow and detection missing easily. Another well-known travel aid for the blind is guide dog. However, few people use them so far, because the training of guide dogs is not easy and the price for buying them is high. In recent years, some laboratories start to develop a new type of travel aid called electric travel aids, ETA. Up to now, ETA is still developing and there are many drawbacks such as slow data processing, high price, and failure to detect holes etc. In this work, we develop a new type of ETA, which can detect not only the barriers above the ground but also the sunk floors like holes, downward stairs, and cliffs, etc. The new ETA contains a long cane with two wheels, and several wheeled claws. It rolls on the ground, so users can get the information about the ground by recognizing the fluctuation of wheels. Besides, some photoelectric sensors are installed on the cane to detect the obstacles ahead of user but suspended in midair. Several wheeled claws extend to the front from the wheel shaft, and help users detect dangerous sudden descents. As soon as photoelectric sensors and wheeled claws get the barrier information, the electric system transfers signals to the blind. Then the blind knows how to dodge the obstacle definitely. A prototype has been made, and some trial tests are performed. The results show that the travel aid used in this research has wider and better performances than white canes.