During an early test-run months ago, the black Labrador vision-assistance dog watched her master, Sachin Pavithran, walk off with the 4-foot-tall, PVC-pipe robot on wheels. It didn't help that the device, which vaguely resembles an upright vacuum cleaner, had its own leash.

"Oh, [she] would howl," recalled Utah State University computer scientist Vladimir Kulyukin, who led the team that designed this prototype robo-guide. "I guess she thought she was being replaced."

But this seeing-eye robot is not designed to put Barstow and other guide dogs out to pasture. Kulyukin said the robotic guides are intended to handle tasks that go beyond a canine's ability - such as finding your favorite toothpaste after the grocery store moves all its merchandise around.

During a test run Monday morning at the Center for Persons with Disabilities on the USU campus, Barstow calmly tagged alongside her master while Pavithran, who is visually impaired, took the robotic guide for a spin around the office.

Researchers taped black plastic discs at intervals to the brick walls; the discs were radio frequency ID (RFID) tags, each emitting a unique frequency.

"By detecting that, [the robot] knows where it is," said Chaitanya Gharpure, a graduate student involved with the project.

Using a Braille directory, Pavithran can punch in a number that corresponds with his office destination. A female computer voice then asks whether that is really where he wants to go.

"Aye, aye sir," comes the robotic voice in reply, as it sets off at a walking pace with Pavithran hanging onto a handle.

During a stroll around the office, where Pavithran works on technology to help the visually impaired, a co-worker popped out of her office.

"Hi Sachin, please don't run me over," she joked, as his entourage of guides paraded past.

To avoid such a problem, the team created a safety system that uses a low-power laser to check for obstacles.

Kulyukin sees a potential future for the devices in airports and grocery stores. If RFID tags are the wave of the future in grocery stores, the robotic guide will piggyback on that trend.

The same technology intended for tracking inventory can also lead the sight-impaired to products on the shelf, he said. The shopper would punch in a code for each item, and the robotic guide would lead the way to the product. Once arriving near the product, the robot tells the shopper which direction to turn.

Lee's Marketplace, a Logan grocery store, has allowed Kulyukin's team to test the system. The team sets up RFID tags on various shelves and lets the robotic guide detect them.

But acceptance for such tests has come slowly, as people conjure up images of what Kulyukin may mean when he says the word "robot."

"In general, it's really nice to think of sci-fi images - robots navigating on their own, falling in love and writing poetry and shooting everybody around them," he said in his Russian-tinged accent. "The truth of the matter is that there is no practical need for machines like that."

Instead, he offers up his robotic guide as a real-world application for helping those who are disabled.

Those who manage places where the robotic guide could work often want to know whether the robot will run into customers or break products.

"We need to assure them that we're not putting a Terminator 2-type machine into the grocery store," he said.

Kulyukin promises there will be no robotic rampages. In fact, kids seem fascinated by the robotic guide in the supermarket.

"It's really fun to watch the little children. They do a song and dance and the robot wants to avoid them and then they jump in front of it," he said, doing an impersonation of a 7-year-old hopping back and forth.

Kulyukin said the technology is ready; it's just a matter of finding a company willing to put up the money to have automated robots to guide people through a store or airport. A national chain, such as Wal-Mart, would be a big step in helping the technology gain acceptance, he said.

At the moment, the National Science Foundation and a few Utah Community University Research Initiative grants are funding the work.

Pavithran said the technology would make his frequent travel schedule easier to handle, especially at unfamiliar airports.

"When I have a layover, I just sit at the gate the whole time," he said, unable to find a restaurant or even a restroom on his own.

Sarah Rule, head of the Center for Persons with Disabilities, was pleased to watch the project move from concept to working model.

"This technology obviously has big implications for the visually impaired to be able to actually make their own decisions," she said, adding that they would not have to rely on strangers for help in new settings.

For now, the technology is limited to two campus buildings and sometimes a nearby grocery store. Without more funding, the robotic guide will remain a work in progress.

And that seems OK with Barstow. She has seen the future of seeing-eye technology and is probably happy to be Pavithran's only guide a little while longer.

glavine@sltrib.com