Blind Pedestrian Navigation on Ubran Crosswalks

This work presents the development of a localization and nagivation algorithm for those who are blind-low vision (BLV) as they cross urban crosswalks. Our approach utilizes Ultra Wide Band (UWB) radio technology to ensure centimeter-level accuracy of the pedestrian’s distance from the beacon. This technology is paired with [PedPal] (https://www.ri.cmu.edu/project/pedpal/), developed by Dr.Steven Smith, which personalizes the crossing experience for its users through real-time connectivity with the intersection’s traffic control system.

This project was conducted as part of the Robotics Institute Summer Scholars (RISS) program during the summers of 2020 and 2021.

This work was done under Dr.Steven Smith at Carnegie Mellon University, with funding provided by National Science Foundation Award 2038612 and the RISS program.