Traditionally, visually challenged individuals employ the white cane to aid their mobility outdoo... more Traditionally, visually challenged individuals employ the white cane to aid their mobility outdoors, which provides very limited utility. In order to improve the safety of visually challenged users and enhance their awareness of their surroundings while navigating in outdoor environments, smart device is needed. In this paper, a smart walking cane for the visually challenged has been presented. The proposed device can detect obstacles as well as terrain changes in the user’s path. A conventional walking cane forms the mainframe of the device, upon which ultrasonic sensors are mounted at appropriate locations to detect obstacles, steps and pits in the path of the user, It can also detect fire in the surrounding environment using fire sensors. Additionally, a provision to indicate the presence of puddles and slippery surfaces in the user’s path has also been included in the device. The presence of these obstacles is notified to the user by the means of voice recordings played via earphones or through haptic feedback, provided using vibration motors placed on the hand support of the stick. The device is lightweight and is powered by a rechargeable battery. The overall design of the device ensures accuracy, energy efficiency and easy portability. Keywords: Obstacle detection; Terrain detection; Ultrasonic sensor; Fire Sensor; visually challenged; Walking Cane
Traditionally, visually challenged individuals employ the white cane to aid their mobility outdoo... more Traditionally, visually challenged individuals employ the white cane to aid their mobility outdoors, which provides very limited utility. In order to improve the safety of visually challenged users and enhance their awareness of their surroundings while navigating in outdoor environments, smart device is needed. In this paper, a smart walking cane for the visually challenged has been presented. The proposed device can detect obstacles as well as terrain changes in the user’s path. A conventional walking cane forms the mainframe of the device, upon which ultrasonic sensors are mounted at appropriate locations to detect obstacles, steps and pits in the path of the user, It can also detect fire in the surrounding environment using fire sensors. Additionally, a provision to indicate the presence of puddles and slippery surfaces in the user’s path has also been included in the device. The presence of these obstacles is notified to the user by the means of voice recordings played via earphones or through haptic feedback, provided using vibration motors placed on the hand support of the stick. The device is lightweight and is powered by a rechargeable battery. The overall design of the device ensures accuracy, energy efficiency and easy portability. Keywords: Obstacle detection; Terrain detection; Ultrasonic sensor; Fire Sensor; visually challenged; Walking Cane
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Keywords: Obstacle detection; Terrain detection; Ultrasonic sensor; Fire Sensor; visually challenged; Walking Cane
Keywords: Obstacle detection; Terrain detection; Ultrasonic sensor; Fire Sensor; visually challenged; Walking Cane