Abstract
Route planning (RP) enables individuals to navigate in unfamiliar environments. Current RP methodologies generate routes that optimize criteria relevant to the traveling distance or time, whereas most of them do not consider personal preferences or needs. Also, most of the current smart wearable assistive navigation systems offer limited support to individuals with disabilities by providing obstacle avoidance instructions, but often neglecting their special requirements with respect to the route quality. Motivated by the mobility needs of such individuals, this study proposes a novel RP framework for assistive navigation that copes these open issues. The framework is based on a novel mixed 0–1 integer nonlinear programming model for solving the RP problem with constraints originating from the needs of individuals with disabilities; unlike previous models, it minimizes: (1) the collision risk with obstacles within a path by prioritizing the safer paths; (2) the walking time; (3) the number of turns by constructing smooth paths, and (4) the loss of cultural interest by penalizing multiple crossovers of the same paths, while satisfying user preferences, such as points of interest to visit and a desired tour duration. The proposed framework is applied for the development of a system module for safe navigation of visually impaired individuals (VIIs) in outdoor cultural spaces. The module is evaluated in a variety of navigation scenarios with different parameters. The results demonstrate the comparative advantage of our RP model over relevant state-of-the-art models, by generating safer and more convenient routes for the VIIs.
Highlights
Route planning (RP) algorithms have witnessed a swift development in recent years
A considerable attention has been given to air traffic management [1, 2], transportation [3, 4] and robot navigation [5], a little attention has been given to route planning for supporting the sensitive social groups, such as the elderly, or individuals with disabilities
The initial validation tests of the model are presented, and comparisons are made with models that have been proposed in the literature regarding route planning for individuals with disabilities (Table 4)
Summary
Route planning (RP) algorithms have witnessed a swift development in recent years. Geographic information system (GIS) in combination with online libraries for street information has played a significant role in the development of efficient methodologies for addressing the problem of RP. A considerable attention has been given to air traffic management [1, 2], transportation [3, 4] and robot navigation [5], a little attention has been given to route planning for supporting the sensitive social groups, such as the elderly, or individuals with disabilities. Outdoor environmental barriers, such as moving obstacles and pavement conditions, cultivate the feeling of loss of independence among aging individuals, or individuals with mobility and vision limitations. Such models should enable guidance through safer routes where special facilities, such as routes with a tactile pavement, exist, extending at the same time their application to outdoor cultural spaces for social engagement and networking
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