Friday, October 3, 2008
Developing wheelchair responding to verbal commands
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers led by Assistant Professor Nicholas Roy, are developing an autonomous wheelchair that can respond to verbal commands and learn the locations in a building.
A wheelchair occupant just has to say "take me to the cafeteria" or "go to my room," and relax in the chair as it maneuvers from one place to another based on a map stored in its memory, the MIT news reported on September 19.
"It's a system that can learn and adapt to the user," said Nicholas Roy, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics and co-developer of the wheelchair. Each chair could be personalized by the user, he said, based on what the per son wants to feed into the computerized chair.
Previous attempts to program wheelchairs and other mobile instruments have used intensive manual detailed mapping the chair being developed by Roy etal can learn about its environment almost like a human by being taken around on a guided tour and talking to it about the various landmarks.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
A wheelchair occupant just has to say "take me to the cafeteria" or "go to my room," and relax in the chair as it maneuvers from one place to another based on a map stored in its memory, the MIT news reported on September 19.
"It's a system that can learn and adapt to the user," said Nicholas Roy, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics and co-developer of the wheelchair. Each chair could be personalized by the user, he said, based on what the per son wants to feed into the computerized chair.
Previous attempts to program wheelchairs and other mobile instruments have used intensive manual detailed mapping the chair being developed by Roy etal can learn about its environment almost like a human by being taken around on a guided tour and talking to it about the various landmarks.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: Assistant Professor Nicholas Roy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, mobile instruments, program, researchers, respond, verbal commands, wheelchair
Monday, April 21, 2008
He taught his reporters, administrative employees the meaning of integrity
As I mentioned in my tribute to Mr. Raju on my television program, his importance to so many of us in the profession of journalism is simply immeasurable.
I was but a young lad, editing a small weekly newspaper in Washington, D.C., working the extra odd job here and there to finance my pursuit of a graduate degree at American University. He spotted something in my work in 1976 and astounded me with an offer to become an editor of India Abroad. I was dum founded because, by my own estimate of myself at the time, I was far too young to be handed responsibility for a newspaper that clearly was heading toward becoming the main medium of our then infant community. But Mr. Raju thought otherwise and asked me to give him a ‘yes' or ‘no' answer as soon as possible.
I fudged, thought about it, then passed up the offer. I ended up becoming the editor a year later of a brand new newspaper, News India.
But by late 1979, I walked into the Park Avenue offices of India Abroad in Manhattan. I asked to meet with Mr. Raju and he obliged. Was his offer to me still good, I asked. At first he gave me that miffed look.
Then he spoke, somewhat noncommittal, "You should have jumped on board the first time I asked you". There were a few minutes of silence as he appeared to size me up.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
I was but a young lad, editing a small weekly newspaper in Washington, D.C., working the extra odd job here and there to finance my pursuit of a graduate degree at American University. He spotted something in my work in 1976 and astounded me with an offer to become an editor of India Abroad. I was dum founded because, by my own estimate of myself at the time, I was far too young to be handed responsibility for a newspaper that clearly was heading toward becoming the main medium of our then infant community. But Mr. Raju thought otherwise and asked me to give him a ‘yes' or ‘no' answer as soon as possible.
I fudged, thought about it, then passed up the offer. I ended up becoming the editor a year later of a brand new newspaper, News India.
But by late 1979, I walked into the Park Avenue offices of India Abroad in Manhattan. I asked to meet with Mr. Raju and he obliged. Was his offer to me still good, I asked. At first he gave me that miffed look.
Then he spoke, somewhat noncommittal, "You should have jumped on board the first time I asked you". There were a few minutes of silence as he appeared to size me up.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: believed, Gopal Raju, journalism, Manhattan, program, Swedish newspaper, television, Washington
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