Marco Pieralisi

Design and Realization of an Electromagnetic Guiding System for Blind Running Athletes

Nowadays the technologies aimed at improving the quality of life of people affected by visual diseases are quite common; e.g., devices to support walking or reading. Surprisingly, there is a lack of innovative technologies aimed at helping visually impaired athletes during physical activities. An example is represented by blind runners who need to be physically linked to a sighted guide by means of non-stretchable tethers during races; with consequent limitations in terms of performance and independence. This paper wants to investigate the possibility of realizing a system able to guide blind runners along a complex path, paving the way for the realization of an innovative device designed to improve their independence during training or competitions. The system consists of: (1) a mobile unit, which is placed before the runner and generates two “electromagnetic walls” delimiting the way; (2) a receiving unit (worn by the athlete) that provides vibro-tactile warnings every time the user is going outside the safe area so as to encourage him to move toward the central position. The feasibility and the utility of the system proposed are demonstrated by means of tests carried out thanks to the collaboration of a blind volunteer.

Design of Wireless Sensor Network for Real-Time Structural Health Monitoring

During its whole service life, a building can be subjected to operational and environmental forces usually present, or to episodic seismic loadings (earthquakes). An automated smart building is a house capable of self-monitoring in order to signal the need of maintenance, when a reduction in performance levels is detects, or to signal the need of action if there are some structural problems. One of the most important issues in civil engineering is the detection of structural damages. The flexibility of the monitoring system is fundamental, expecially in case of existing buildings. For these reasons the adoption of wireless sensor networks with different nodes is desiderable in order to monitor conditions like seismic activity. This work propose a sensor node, based on ARM micro controller, IEEE 802.15.4 wireless communication and GPS syncronization, for a wireless sensor network that solve a critical aspect in this kind of application: syncronism, when one has to collect dynamic input. Finally the paper shows the preliminary results obtained in laboratory.

An Electromagnetic Sensor for the Autonomous Running of Visually Impaired and Blind Athletes (Part I: The Fixed Infrastructure)

Sport is one of the best ways to promote the social integration of people affected by physical disability, because it helps them to increase their self-esteem by facing difficulties and overcoming their disabilities. Nowadays, a large number of sports can be easily played by visually impaired and blind athletes without any special supports, but, there are some disciplines that require the presence of a sighted guide. In this work, the attention will be focused on marathons, during which athletes with visual disorders have to be linked to the sighted guide by means of a non-stretchable elbow tether, with an evident reduction of their performance and autonomy. In this context, this paper presents a fixed electromagnetic infrastructure to equip a standard running racetrack in order to help a blind athlete to safely run without the presence of a sighted guide. The athlete runs inside an invisible hallway, just wearing a light and a comfortable sensor unit. The patented system has been homemade, designed, realized and finally tested by a blind Paralympic marathon champion with encouraging results and interesting suggestions for technical improvements. In this paper (Part I), the transmitting unit, whose main task is to generate the two magnetic fields that delimit the safe hallway, is presented and discussed.

The electromagnetic technology for safe mobility of visually impaired people

The aim of this paper is to present a survey of the activities carried out by the University Politecnica delle Marche concerning the safe mobility of visually impaired people in order to involve the control and automation community and present some hints for discussion. For this purpose, this contribution reports and discusses the use of electromagnetic (EM) systems as assistive technologies for mobility tasks of blind subjects also highlighting their advantages with respect to existing traditional electronic travel aids, in terms of performances, miniaturization, and wear ability. In particular, two applications of EM technologies will be discussed more in detail: a first example consists in the design and realization of a laboratory prototype of an EM sensor, able to detect the presence of obstacles, aimed to help visually impaired users during mobility tasks, possibly allowing them to walk safely and independently. The second example is the theoretical and experimental study of feasibility of an EM system, specifically addressed to visually impaired runners. Finally, some clues for discussion will be presented; the user interaction with the sensing system, the signal analysis and possible features extraction will be reviewed addressing issues requiring a multidisciplinary approach.

Design and realization of a wideband antenna for non-contact respiration monitoring in AAL application

This contribution is part of a wider research project whose final aim is the realization of a small EM sensing system for non-contact monitoring of respiration activity in indoor environments. The paper presents the design of an optimized radiating element that satisfies challenging requirements: good impedance matching over a wide frequency bandwidth (3-5 GHz), directive radiation pattern, small dimensions (in order to reduce its invasiveness) and low cost for realization. In detail, an antenna model already existing in literature has been optimized and adapted to this specific application using a full wave numerical simulator. Finally a first antenna prototype has been realized and experimentally tested to compare the measured parameters with the simulated results.

An electromagnetic sensor for the autonomous running of visually impaired and blind athletes (part ii: the wearable device)

Currently, the availability of technology developed to increase the autonomy of visually impaired athletes during sports is limited. The research proposed in this paper (Part I and Part II) focuses on the realization of an electromagnetic system that can guide a blind runner along a race track without the need for a sighted guide. In general, the system is composed of a transmitting unit (widely described in Part I) and a receiving unit, whose components and main features are described in this paper. Special attention is paid to the definition of an electromagnetic model able to faithfully represent the physical mechanisms of interaction between the two units, as well as between the receiving magnetic sensor and the body of the user wearing the device. This theoretical approach allows for an estimation of the signals to be detected, and guides the design of a suitable signal processing board. This technology has been realized, patented, and tested with a blind volunteer with successful results and this paper presents interesting suggestions for further improvements.

A K-band miniaturized antenna for safe mobility of visually impaired people

This contribution regards the design and realization of an electromagnetic system to support the autonomous mobility of visually impaired and blind people. The system works like a radar that transmits a short pulse and analyzes the echo coming from the surrounding. Operative tests carried out with the collaboration of a blind end user demonstrated several potentialities of the electromagnetic technology: detecting in advance (few meters from the user) dangerous objects of different shape and material, detecting the presence of obstacles located at chest or head levels, providing the position of the obstacles respect to the user, easiness of use, etc. In this context, a special attention has been paid to the miniaturization of the transmitting element, which is a k-band slot antenna to be integrated on a small circuit board to be attached onto a white cane.

A 3-D body model for physical activity monitoring by microwave radiation

The human body is a very complex structure, which has not been studied explicitly, until today, for remote monitoring application or wireless communication. This paper presents a preliminary study in the will to demonstrate how the combination of primitive shapes such as spheres, cylinders and parallelepipeds allows creating a simplified 3-D body model sufficient to analyze the interaction mechanisms of electromagnetic waves and resulting more efficient than numerical tools in terms of computational requirements. A comparison between the electric field scattered from a simple geometrical shape and from the realistic face of a phantom will be presented to show the accuracy of the model. To conclude, some experimental results with simulated data will be compared in order to provide a preliminary validation of the method.

Electromagnetic Technologies as Travel Aids for Visually Impaired Subjects

The aim of this paper is to present the electromagnetic (EM) technology as possible assistive technology for the mobility tasks of visually impaired subjects. The paper will present their characteristics, discussing pros and cons of their use with respect to the existing traditional technologies and electronic travel aids, in terms of performances, miniaturization and wearing comfort. In particular, two applications of EM technologies will be presented more in detail: a first example consists in the design and realization of a laboratory prototype of an EM system able to detect the presence of obstacles along the walking path of visually impaired users and hence to assist them during their mobility tasks, possibly allowing them to walk safely and independently. The second example is the theoretical and experimental study of feasibility of an EM system specifically addressed to visually impaired runners. In conclusion, some hints for discussion will be presented; the user interaction with the sensing system, the signal analysis and possible features extraction will be reviewed addressing issues requiring a multidisciplinary approach.