Special Issue - 2016 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)

ISSN: 2278-0181
ICACT - 2016 Conference Proceedings

Smart Stick for Blind using Raspberry Pi

Akhila. S (BE Student) Disha M Rani (BE Student)
Dept. of ISE, Jyothy Institute of Technology, Dept. of ISE, Jyothy Institute of Technology,
Tataguni, Kanakapura main road, Tataguni, Kanakapura main road,
Bangalore-5666666 Bangalore-566666

Divyashree. D (BE Student) Varshini.S. S (BE Student)

Dept. of ISE, Jyothy Institute of Technology, Dept. of ISE, Jyothy Institute of Technology,
Tataguni, Kanakapura main road, Tataguni, Kanakapura main road,
Bangalore-566666 Bangalore-566666

Abstract— A Smart stick system concept is devised to provide used for guiding individuals who are blind or partially sighted.
a smart electronic aid for blind people. Blind and visually The device is used to help blind people to move with the same
impaired people find difficulties in detecting obstacles during ease and confidence as a sighted people.
walking in the street. The system is intended to provide artificial
vision and object detection, real time assistance via GPS by
making use of Raspberry Pi. The system consists of ultrasonic III. LITERATURE SURVEY
sensors, GPS module, and the feedback is receive through audio, A literature survey is a proof essay of sorts. It is a study
voice output works through TTS (text to speech). The proposed of relevant literature materials in relation to a topic we have
system detects an object around them and sends feedback in the been given. For thorough development of the device Smart
form of speech, warning messages via earphone and also provides
Stick for Blind Using Raspberry Pi, we need to go through
navigation to specific location through GPS. The aim of the
overall system is to provide a low cost and efficient navigation and each and every technical aspect related to it. This chapter
obstacle detection aid for blind which gives a sense of artificial provides an introduction to the area of research. A Brief Study
vision by providing information about the environmental scenario and Survey has been Carried out to understand various issues
of static and dynamic object around them, so that they can walk related to the project which involves providing a smart
independently. electronic aid for blind people to provide artificial vision and
object detection, real time assistance via GPS module by using
Keywords—Raspberry Pi, Ultrasonic sensor, GPS Module, Raspberry Pi .A survey is made among the Blind people
Earphone. finding difficulties in detecting obstacles during walking in the
I. INTRODUCTION street .Our project mainly focuses on the visually impaired
people who cannot walk independently in unfamiliar
Eye sight plays a major role in collecting most of the environment .The main aim of our project is to develop a
information from the real world and that information will be system that helps the blind people to move independently.
processed by brain, visually impaired people suffer Smart Stick for Blind systems usually consist of three parts to
inconveniences in their daily and social life. Blindness or help people travel with a greater degree of psychological
visual impairment is a condition that affects many people comfort and independence: sensing the immediate
around the world. This condition leads to the loss of the environment for obstacles and hazards, providing information
valuable sense of vision. Worldwide there are millions of to move left or right and orientation during travel.
people who are visually impaired, where many of them are  “Navigation Tool for Visually Challenged using
blind. The need for assistive devices was and will be Microcontroller”, Sabarish.S.
continuous. There is a wide range of navigation systems and
 “Smart walking stick - an electronic approach to
tools existing for visually impaired individuals. The blind
assist visually disabled persons”, Mohammad Hazzaz
person truly requires an identifying objects.
Mahmud, Rana Saha, Sayemul Islam
 “Ultrasonic smart cane indicating a safe free path to
II. OBJECTIVE
blind people”, Arun G. Gaikwad 1, H. K.
The main objective of our project is to provide a voice Waghmare2 1ME Embedded system Design, MIT
based assistance to blind people. Here we have developed an Aurangabad 2 Assistant Professor Department of
intelligent system that helps blind person to travel E&TC, MIT Aurangabad
independently and works efficiently. Current navigation  “A Multidimensional Walking Aid for Visually
device for the visually impair focus on travelling from one Impaired Using Ultrasonic Sensors Network with
location to another. Our project focuses on designing a device Voice Guidance”, Olakanmi O. Oladayo
for blind people that help them to travel independently and
also it must be comfortable to use. The proposed device is

Volume 4, Issue 22 Published by, www.ijert.org 1

 Special Issue - 2016 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
ICACT - 2016 Conference Proceedings

IV. EXISTING SYSTEM A. Ultrasonic Sensor

Blind people generally use either the typical High frequency sound waves is generated by ultrasonic
white cane or the guide dog to travel. The white cane is a sensor. It evaluates the echo which is received back by the
widely used mobility aid that helps blind people to navigate in sensors. The time interval between sending the signal and
their surroundings. Although the white stick gives a warning receiving the echo is calculated by sensor to determine the
about few meters before the obstacle, for a normal walking distance to an object. Ultrasonic is like an infrared where it
speed , the time to react is very short . The idea of designing will reflect on a surface in any shape, but ultrasonic has a
and manufacturing ultrasonic sensor combines the properties better range detection compared to infrared. In robotic and
of sound monition and that benefit the blind and vibrating alert automation industry, ultrasonic has been highly accepted
feature, which benefit from the experience of deafness. Sensor because of its usage. In our Project the Ultrasonic sensor
can detect obstacles within the designed range to avoid the distance measurement Module deals with the distance
blind person through the issuance of distinctive sound or measurement between the obstacle and the blind person. This
vibration can be issued by the sense of the deaf by putting his module starts the process when the user turns on the device
finger on the button at the top of the device vibrate when there using power supply. Firstly when the device turns on, the
is a risk. This system involves more manual work and it does ultrasonic sensor will automatically gives the distance
not provide better result. The existing system doesn’t provide measurement of the obstacle infront of the blind, and then the
proper navigation and is not much effective. distance measured is stored in the SD card.

V. PROPOSED SYSTEM

The proposed system consists of three main units:

 Ultrasonic Sensor unit.
 GPS Module unit.
 Espeak Text to Speech unit.
FIG 5.1 ULTRASONIC SENSOR
“Smart stick for blind using Raspberry Pi” system is easy
to understand and maintain. This system uses Raspberry pi, it
is a small processing device which works as computer at
relatively low cost. Blind and visually impaired people find
difficulties in detecting obstacles during walking in the street.
The system is intended to provide artificial vision and object
detection, real time assistance via GPS by making use of
Raspberry Pi. The system consists of ultrasonic sensors, GPS
module, and the feedback is received through audio. Voice
output works through TTS (text to speech).
The proposed system detects an object around them and sends
feedback in the form of speech that is warning messages via
earphone and also provides navigation to specific location
through GPS. The aim of the overall system is to provide a
low cost, efficient navigation and obstacle detection aid for
blind which gives a sense of artificial vision by providing
information about the environmental scenario of static and
dynamic object around them, so that they can walk
independently.

FIG 5.2 PROPOSED FLOW CHART

B. GPS Module
This module deals with the navigation of blind person
from particular source to destination. This phase starts by

Volume 4, Issue 22 Published by, www.ijert.org 2

 Special Issue - 2016 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
ICACT - 2016 Conference Proceedings

Obstacle Detection. First the ultrasonic sensor gives voice advantage of the system lies in the fact that it can prove to be
command about the distance measurement between the very low cost solution to millions of blind person worldwide.
obstacle and the blind person, based on that the navigation The proposed combination of Ultrasonic Sensor and GPS
route instruction will be provided to blind by GPS Module via makes a real-time system that monitors position of the user and
voice command. The navigation route is provided based on the provides feedback making navigation more safe and secure.
latitude and longitude values. The latitude and longitude We are using Espeak text to speech conversion to provide
values will be stored so that when that value is matched the voice command as output. Blind person can easily navigate
blind person gets the voice command to move left or right. from one place to another as we are providing voice message.
The prototype of Smart Stick for Blind is able to detect
obstacles in front of the user. And, it is therefore capable of
guiding a visually impaired person for navigating his
environment.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to thank H.O.D of Information science and
FIG 5.3 GPS MODULE Engineering Department Mr. Nagaraj A, Jyothy Institute of
Technolgy for providing us an opportunity and his valuable
support. Our deep and profound gratitude to our guide Mrs.
C. Voice Command Module Anusha.G.E, Asst. Prof. Dept. of ISE, Jyothy Institute of
This module deals with giving the instructions to the technology for her keen interest and boundless encouragement
blind user about the obstacles via Earphone. After detecting in preparing this work.
the Obstacles it gives the instructions about the obstacle and REFERENCES
based on that GPS Module Provides route to the Blind.
[1] “Smart walking stick - an electronic approach to assist visually
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS disabled persons”, Mohammad Hazzaz Mahmud, Rana Saha,
Sayemul Islam.
The working of the system begins when the power [2] “A Multidimensional Walking Aid for Visually Impaired Using
supply is given. The ultrasonic sensor is then used to detect Ultrasonic Sensors Network with Voice Guidance”, Olakanmi O.
obstacle and provides distance between obstacle and the Oladayo Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Technology Drive,
device. GPS Module provides navigation. When obstacle is Office 6, New Faculty of Engineering Building, University of Ibadan,
Ibadan, Nigeria.
detected, the distance and the navigation will be processed [3] “Ultrasonic smart cane indicating a safe free path to blind people”,
using Raspberry Pi device. The processing happens in such a arun G. Gaikwad 1, H. K. Waghmare2 1ME Embedded system
way that if the obstacle is on to the right side, a voice Design, MIT Aurangabad ,2 Assistant Professor Department of E&TC,
command will be given to take left and vice versa. MIT Aurangabad.
[4] “Smart stick for Blind: Obstacle Detection, Artificial vision and Real-
time assistance via GPS “, Shruti Dambhare M.E 3rd SEM (ESC)
VI. RESULTS
G.H.R.C.E. Nagpur, Prof. A.Sakhare M.Tech (ESC) G.H.R.C.E.
To evaluate the performance of the proposed method Nagpur.
the experiments were conducted. The results in this paper [5] “Sensor assisted stick for the blind people”, G.Prasanthi1
P.Tejaswitha 2 Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, JNTUA
shows the beginning of our efforts to build a compact College of Engineering, Ananthapuramu, A. P.PG Research Scholar,
travelling aid that allows the visually impaired to negotiate Product Design, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, JNTUA College
everyday environment. As previously mentioned, the sensor ofEngineering, Ananthapuramu, A. P.
circuits give information about the environment. The circuit [6] “Navigation Tool for Visually Challenged using Microcontroller
“,Sabarish.S.
that has been designed for the object detection has provided an [7] “Smart walking stick for visually impaired”, g.gayathri#1,
accuracy of 1 meter. For providing navigation Gps module has m.vishnupriya r.nandhini3,ms.m.banupriya#4 1, Department Of ECE,
been used. SNS College of Engineering, Coimbatore - 641107 4 Assistant
Professor, Dept of ECE, SNS College of Engineering, Coimbatore –
VII. CONCLUSION 107.
[8] “A Smart Pre-Warning, Guide, Alarm, Recovery a Detection
(GUARD) Network System Electrical Engineering”, Tamkang
The project “Smart Stick for Blind Using Raspberry University,Tamsui, Taiwan 251, R.O.C.Department of
Pi” is designed to create a system using Ultrasonic sensors, Communication Engineering, National Central University,Jungli,
GPS module and providing Voice command through Taiwan 320, R.O.C.Department of Computer Science and Information
headphone to the blind people. It would help a visually Engineering, Tamkang University,Tamsui, Taiwan 251, R.O.C. for the
Blind Ching-Chang Wong1, Yih-Guang Jan1, Yang-Han Lee1*, Po-
impaired person navigate through a public place independently. Jen Chuang1.
The proposed system tries to eliminate the faults in the [9] ”An Intelligent Walking Stick for the Blind”, Kher Chaitrali S.,
previous system. It aims to solve the problems faced by the Dabhade Yogita A., Kadam Snehal K.,Dhamdhere Swati D.,
blind people in their daily life. The system also takes measures Deshpande Aarti V. JSPM’s Jayawantrao Sawant College of
Engineering.
to ensure their safety. The design Smart Stick for Blind using [10] ”Smart Stick for Blind Man”, Nitish Sukhija1, Shruti Taksali2, Mohit
ultrasonic sensors and GPS with voice output is of great benefit Jain3 and Rahul Kumawat4 1, 3 Student JECRC UDML COLLEGE
to blind people when it comes to independent mobility. The of Engineering.

Volume 4, Issue 22 Published by, www.ijert.org 3