A team of researchers at Rice University has developed a haptic feedback vest and camera system for a blind dog known as Kunde. The vest helps guide the dog through daily obstacles and the hope is that it will soon do the same for other pups.
Whether it's from glaucoma, complications from diabetes, cataracts, or a host of other injuries and medical conditions, the fact is that a fair portion of older dogs will eventually go blind. While many dogs can eventually learn to navigate their surroundings without vision, the process often involves lots of bumping into walls and furniture, which is unpleasant for both dog owners and their best friends.
When a Houston-based dog named Kunde went blind due to glaucoma, his owners sought out help from Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen, an engineering design maker space at Rice University. Fortunately for Kunde, four young students heeded the call.
Working with a previous system that used LiDAR to navigate, the team developed a wearable system for the dog consisting of a vest and a set of stereoscopic cameras mounted near his head. The cameras – which are much cheaper than the LiDAR system – take in information about obstacles in the dog's path and then send signals to small actuator motors in the vest that vibrate accordingly. The closer the dog is to an obstacle, the more vigorous the vibration.
“Kind of like giving Kunde a second set of eyes, the cameras create a depth map,” said Issy Tsai, a freshman electrical engineering major who designed the team’s custom printed circuit board, which sends the signals from the camera to the vest.
After working out how to keep the system lightweight and weatherproof – both in terms of rain and the punishing heat that is common in Houston – it is now being tested by Kunde. The final prototype can "see" to a distance of 8 meters (26 ft) and has a battery life that lasts about two hours.
“We had to figure out how to embed electronics into a wearable vest that’s breathable, soft and rugged enough for a dog who loves to play,” says team member Cristiana De Sousa, a junior mechanical engineering student. “It was a real exercise in creative problem-solving.”
“The team has made exciting progress, and while there’s still more development ahead to fully meet the client’s needs, they’ve already demonstrated the power of having a real-world challenge to drive meaningful design,” added team mentor, Heather Bisesti. “It’s motivating for students to see how their work can make a direct difference in someone’s ⎯ or some dog’s ⎯ life.”
The team hopes to apply the learnings from working with Kunde to a successful navigation system that could eventually help other blind dogs thrive in their environments.
You can see more about the project in the following video from the engineers, who call themselves "Kunde's Friends."
Source: Rice University
