RObotic Travel Aid (ROTA)

Please read this leaflet to your visually-impaired friends so that they get to know:

What newHitomi is.

NewHitomi is an electrically driven trycycle having a robotic eye and a navigation computer. Hitomi is the Japanese word for a pupil in the eye. A visually impaired person who has been a user of a guide dog, or who has driven a car before losing the sight, would be ready to use newHitomi as a guiding tool to move around within a building and/or on a walkway. NewHitomi can be borrowed free of charge in Japan

What newHitomi can do for you.

NewHitomi can be entrusted with your moving tasks.

With newHitomi, you can walk on your foot in a good posture gripping the bar behind the machine. If you should face somebody/something closely in front of you on your path, such as a person, a wheelchair, and a piece of furniture, newHitomi will alert you with Ping-pong sounds, stop you before hitting the object, then wait for your decision whether to ask for clearance of the obstruction or to pass around it. When you come to a room-door or an elevator-door, newHitomi tells you whether the door is open or closed, so that you can decide what to do next.

NewHitomi as well can lead you to move in the appropriate orientation: for example, she can guide you to cross a road without straying into the surrounding traffic.

How newHitomi is prepared.

NewHitomi has a technical specialist who prepares for your operation. The specialist drives newHitomi along the actual route that you want to follow. Through such driving, the specialist puts into newHitomi's computer the featured pieces of information on the routes: indoor features such as walls, floors, turning points, and doors; outdoor features such as walls, curbs, Braille blocks, and pedestrian's crosses. The specialist also posts notice plates (written in QR-codes) at the starting point, the destination, transit points, room-doors, elevator-doors, and other important places. Such procedures undertaken by the specialist is called "teaching". All those data are compiled in the newHitomi's computer to build the course you travel defining the starting point and the destination, and also to program the specific route to follow to cover the course: for example, Rest-room course by South-corridor route.

How you use newHitomi.

You give newHitomi your operating commands from a Control box set under the hand grips. Turn on the power. Press the appropriate buttons on the box to hear newHitomi announce the menu items which have been filed in her computer; select your desired course and the route: for example, Rest-room course/South-corridor route. Then, you press the START/STOP button to begin your travel. NewHitomi travels following the programmed route at a speed of 1 to 3km/hr. The travel can continue for about 1-1/2hours with a fully charged battery. While traveling, you follow what newHitomi vocally advises you to do. NewHitomi finds her path along the route by looking at the environmental features with her robotic eye, then comparing the images with the data which have been saved in her computer. At critical spots, newHitomi confirms where she is by reading the posted notice plates. NewHitomi is built so that she can traverse a slope without suffering any real downward deviation in her path. She is also capable of going over a bump up to five-cm high. NewHitomi comes in a uniquely shaped white cover which alerts the surrounding people to your walking. That flat-top cover also serves as your bag carrier deck.

Who to contact for detailed information.

Dr. Hideo Mori, ROTA CO., Ltd.

Incubation Center, University of Yamanashi

4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu city, Japan 400-8511

Phone 055-220-8637(daytime) 0551-25-3929(nighttime)

URL http://sites.google.com/site/robotictravelaid/home/rota-corp

Email: mori.rota@gmail.com

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