Robot guide dog could help blind people navigate

By Matthew Sparkes

Guide dogs provide social, physical, and mental benefits to some blind people, but training is an expensive and lengthy process. Therefore, researchers have developed a robot alternative.

Zhongyu Li of the University of California at Berkeley and his colleagues programmed a four-legged, canine-like robot to safely guide people on a leash, even when faced with obstacles and narrow passages.

The researchers fitted an existing robot with a laser removal system to create an accurate map of its surroundings. They also added a rotating camera that stays focused on ….