Chicago!

Hi all!

First a quick update on the medical front. A recent trip to the neurologist confirms that Kevin is still experiencing a "plateau" as far as ALS is concerned; no significant decline since the last visit.

Second--we went to Chicago! 

 

    Here's why. Kevin has been working on a research project with some folks at Northwestern University to develop a semi-autonomous wheelchair. Essentially, this system would allow a wheelchair user to just point their chair in a general direction (like, let's go out that door over there), and the wheelchair would be able to navigate itself around objects to perform the task. Most people usually think "Roomba" at this point, and that's actually a good analogy!

(Kevin: It will also, eventually, have the ability to bring up a display of mapped environments, like your home, and allow you to graphically pick destinations and way points. Then either autonomously drive there, or allow you to make overrides as you traverse the route. Think of your phone GPS, and the maps app you use in your car, but now imagine your car just taking you there on its own, obeying traffic laws, and allowing you to assume control again at any point. And then continue on or cancel.)

 

    This system will be revolutionary for people whose hand control isn't very steady when working a joystick, or who find the eyegaze interface not as precise as they would like, or even individuals at risk for seizures. It will remove fatigue incurred by the current input controls. Anyway, the research team has been working together for almost a year, but just recently had their first ever in-person all-team meeting...in Chicago!

    Although it wasn't a long trip (just four days total), lots of people worked very hard to make it feasible for us. First of all, Zachary came home for a few days and worked from here. Grandparents and aunts and uncles brought dinner and checked on how things were going. Secondly, emails flew back and forth between Kevin and Stacie (project program manager from Northwestern) to ensure that we had the necessary medical equipment waiting for us at the hotel when we arrived. The staff at the Hotel Saint Clair were very accommodating! And we struck up a good friendship with the fellow at the front desk, Will. Then our good friend Paul drove all the way from South Bend, Indiana to Ohio, only to hop in our van and drive all the way back up to Chicago--just so that we could have an extra caregiver and a driver. (I got to do things like knit and read in the car, yay! Not at the same time, though, the knitting and the reading.) This was particularly helpful once we got into the city because I definitely do not like to drive in downtown traffic. And one-way streets are extra challenging when you really need to unload from the right side of the van because that's where the ramp is, but your destination is up a curb on the left!  Thanks a million to Paul, who handled the traffic and the parking so that I could focus on getting Kevin in and out of the van.

Hotel lobby with great people. From left to right:
Will, Paul, Daniel(good friend on the project), Jane.
You know the one sitting in front.

    The Hotel Saint Clair was just a block from the Magnificent Mile--the yellow trees were beautiful!-- and also within walking distance of the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, which is where the all-day meeting was held. The first part of the meeting involved installing some new tech, a system called LUCI, on Kevin's wheelchair.  Kevin is going to continue testing it and giving them feedback.  LUCI includes sensors around the base of the chair that will stop the chair when obstacles are detected. 

(Kevin: LUCI is the underlying sensor array and safety system upon which we will add the active assistive autonomy. So we're NOT building a wheelchair. LUCI is fitted to your existing chair, making it smarter. We're adding another brain to the system in the form of the Robot Operating System, or ROS. My techie friends who are chuckling right now, are doing so because there are a few different usages for that acronym that I can't really explain. At any rate, that AI is what will take LUCI from just stopping you when it detects obstacles, to actually working with the user to avoid, and plan alternative routes. Right now we're running ROS in a docker container off chair (geek-speak for, another computer) with remote access via Wi-Fi back to the LUCI system. For you developers, the SDK developed to integrate into the LUCI system, we've named the LUCI sandbox. And that's what I'm going to start working on now with the team. I'll essentially have a live prototype running on my chair. Eventually, everything will just get packaged up as a software upgrade for LUCI users. They won't need anything else. I apologize to my techie friends for the ton of behind the scenes technology I'm leaving out.)

    After LUCI was installed, the rest of the day was an opportunity for groups from different parts of the country to share their progress and gather input.   I was fortunate to have been a "fly on the wall" for this part!  All these techy people-- some with backgrounds in Engineering, others in Computer Science and Robotics, all eager to code and press buttons and solve problems.  Seriously, Kevin was in his element for sure and it was a joy to watch!  I am so proud of him and the work he is doing!

Installing LUCI while Kevin supervises

Kevin and Brenna Argall, primary investigator for this project

Kevin and Jered Dean setting up LUCI on his chair

Kevin: A few more quick shout outs. Firstly, regarding the last picture, I have had the privilege of developing wonderful friendships with Brenna, Jered, Daniel (not pictured here but up above in the hotel lobby), as well as other folks not pictured here, but equally important to the project. Here's a link to our Project Drive team. Be sure to click the 'Home' button in the menu across the top of the project page for some brief information on the project, as well as some cool graphics courtesy of Riley Girmann, super cool niece in law and graphic illustrator. And look again at the picture. Crouched down behind my chair is Adam. He's either trying to hide from the photographer, really admiring my butt, or making some final adjustments to LUCI. He wouldn't say which. 

But seriously, Brenna and Jered are both extremely wonderful people. I can't do them justice in words. If you haven't stumbled across it yet, definitely check out the story behind LUCI. 

I can't begin to express the fulfillment I've felt in being part of this project. From the people to the coding to the engineering reviews. Being both a user and helper in shaping this technology has been a pure blessing. To all of you who support and encourage me. I've not the words to express my gratitude. I just hope that I've done right by the talents given to me. And long for the phrase, "well done, my good and faithful servant" when it is finally my time to come home.