Smart Cane for Visual

Impaired Persons
Project Proposal

Group 2
28/05/2018
ENG-17-008 -- A.G.L.M.Dayananda
ENG-17-009 -- H.M.A.L.Dharmasiri
ENG-17-010 -- R.G.N.Wijeratne
ENG-17-011 -- R.T.G.K.Rajapaksha
ENG-17-012 -- N.M.S.Roshana
 Table of Contents

I. Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 2

II. Goals and objectives ................................................................................................................ 3

III. Project scope ............................................................................................................................ 4

IV. Project plan .............................................................................................................................. 5

V. Measure of success .................................................................................................................. 6

VI. Block diagram .......................................................................................................................... 7

VII. Schematic diagram .................................................................................................................. 8

VIII. Budget ..................................................................................................................................... 9

IX. References ............................................................................................................................. 10

Page 1
1. Introduction

Blindness is a state of lacking the visual knowledge due to physiological or neurological factors.
The partial blindness and his total blindness occur due to the lack of integration in the growth of
the optic nerve or visual center of the eye and full absence.
Just imagine a man wants to walk for an unknown place. Then he must ask for guidance to
move there. Suppose the man is visually impaired. Then he must 100% depends on other people
to reach destination.
Usually, we notice that white cane is the best friend of visually impaired person. But this cane
is not useful all the times. In an unfamiliar surrounding visually impaired person might get
confused though they have a white cane. So this limit their mobility and makes them dependent
on others.
So we hope to introduce a smart cane for visually impaired people with few modifications.
This micro-controller based smart cane is integrated with ultra-sonic sensors along with light and
water sensing.
Through this innovation, blind people can navigate with more comfortable speed and
confidence without using a traditional white cane.

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2. Goals & Objectives

i. Developing a product which can calculate the distance and detect barriers.
ii. To investigate the design smart blind cane using ultrasonic sensors.
iii. To provide data on a navigation system using ultrasonic sensors for barrier detection and to
move safe in front and provide safe navigation for the visual impaired.
iv. To make it available at much cheaper prices without compromising with the functionalities.
v. Minimizing its maintenance and operating cost.

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3. Project Scope
We noticed that the white cane has many limitations for the visual impaired. Such as

 Restricted range

 Inability to detect knee- above obstacles

Due to these limitations visual impaired must face to unexpected collisions and upper-body
injuries.
Visual impaired persons have many barriers when living in the society. One of them is they
cannot loco mote safely because of the absence of data about the barriers accurately.
So for that, we have introduced this smart cane for an easy and safe going navigation. The
proposed smart cane consists of following abilities.

 Detecting barriers and warning the visual impaired

 Raised obstacle detection
 Providing data with higher accuracy
 Path finding
 Gate detection
 Indoor and outdoor navigation modes
 Rechargeable Li-lion battery
 Adjustable sensor angle
 Affordability
 Water sensing
 Fire sensing

Challenges

 Design with multiple sensors giving slow feedback.

 Designing with limited amount of sensors.
 Ultrasonic sensor having large cone angle
 Wiring problems
 Cylindrical pipes are difficult to use with hinge

Page 4
 4. Project Plan
Below is the abridged version of timeline we set for the project

Time Period Tasks Deliverables

Week 01 Researching Knowing strengths, limitations and

Proposal submission compatibility
Week 02 Design implementation Designing electronic and mechanical
design
Week 03 Battery design Designing a suitable battery

Week 04 Designing a travelling pouch and user

self-learning manual
Week 05 Testing current design Test sub systems and device meet
requirements
Week 06 Modify device Make changes for a satisfactory
performance
Week 07 System integration Plan and assemble for synchronous
operation after component test
Week 08 Preparation of final report and Present at competition
presentation
Week 09 Project demonstration Present at competition

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5. Measure of Success
Expected features of the final outcome of our project are as follows

 Barrier detection
 Water detection
 Fire detection
 Rechargeable battery
 Providing accurate data for the visual impaired

By comparing this proposed smart cane with the general white cane, smart cane is more
efficient in many ways. Using these modifications, visual impaired persons will get a priceless
facility. By the help of the smart cane, the visual impaired can do more daily activities like normal
persons. So this will help to make their mental health also.
Finally, this proposed smart cane will light up many visual impaired lives.

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 6. Block Diagram

Intensity
control

Vibrator Buzzer
Mode
select
button
Control Unit
On/off

Charging
Vibrator
circuit Ultrasonic
ranger
USB/AC
adapter Battery

Figure 01

Page 7
7. Schematic Diagram

Figure 02

Page 8
8. Budget

Description Cost in Rs.

Total time spent on the working of the project 60h

Transportation 400.00

Hardware 2500.00

Software 600.00

Other 1000.00

Total Estimated Cost 4000.00

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9. References

 NFB - Home. Web. 08 Oct. 2011. <http://www.nfb.org/nfb/default.asp>.

 "WHO | Visual Impairment and Blindness." Web. 09 Oct. 2011.
 <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/>.
 Computer Vision Software » Blog Archive » USD Banknotes Recognition." Computer
 Vision Software. Web. 08 Oct. 2011. <http://www.computer-
visionsoftware.com/blog/2009/12/usd-banknotes-recognition/>.
 Bradski, Gary R., and Adrian Kaehler. Learning OpenCV: [computer Vision with the
OpenCV Library]. Sebastopol: O'Reilly, 2008. Print.
 Corporation, Parallax. "PING))) ™ Ultrasonic Distance Sensor (#28015)."
www.parallax.com, 11 Sept. 2009. Web. 08 Oct. 2011.
 Freescale Semiconductor. "Ultrasonic Distance Measurer Implemented with the
MC9RS08KA2." 2008. Web. 08 Oct. 2011.
 Borenstein, J. Real-time Obstacle Avoidance for Fast Mobile Robots in Cluttered
Environments. IEEE, 18 May 1990. Web. 08 Oct. 2011.
 L. E. Kinsler and A. R. Frey, Fundamentals of Acoustics, 2nd ed. (New York: John
Wiley & Sons, 1962).
 LaPierre, Charles. Personal Navigation System for the Visually Impaired. Ontario,
Canada. Carleton University. 1998.

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