He will be able to guide the “master”, protecting him from obstacles, and read signs and labels to him
Specialists from the Nevinnomyssk Technological Institute (a branch of the North Caucasus Federal University) have created a guide robot, which is designed to help people with disabilities — with visual impairments. It not only has machine vision, but can also analyze the received data, generating warnings based on it to its owner using artificial intelligence.
The robot is a moving platform about 1 m high on six wheels. On top there are several cameras with which he «examines» surrounding space, and a speaker for communication with a person. It is assumed that a blind person will lead the robot (or a human robot) on a special leash.
Thanks to machine vision and the support of artificial intelligence, the guide robot will be able to choose the «master» the optimal route and will help you avoid obstacles. In addition, the robot can recognize various objects and texts, for example, inscriptions on signs nearby. So, he can be asked to read the information on the product packaging, look at the release date and choose the most recent one.
Now the first modification of the guide robot has already been assembled; it is controlled on the basis of a built-in mini-PC. The cost of assembling the first model was about 70 thousand rubles; in the future, the capabilities of the assistant are planned to be expanded, but for this it is necessary to attract investments in the amount of about 1 million rubles. The developers consider government agencies, social services and non-profit organizations as the target audience of the product.