Arduino Based Mobility Cane
Jayant Sakhardande, Pratik Pattanayak, Mita Bhowmick · 2013
Rehabilitating the handicapped by devising useful aid forms a part of portfolio for the biomedical engineers. Assistive technology helps in neutralizing the impairment. Recent advancements in embedded systems have opened up a vast area of research and development for affordable and portable assistive devices for the visually impaired. Right from the simple white cane up to the most advanced electronic stick, many designs have been proposed for the noble cause of aiding the visually impaired. But there have always been some ergonomic or financial constrains in the newer designs which have kept the white cane as the first choice for the maximum number of visually handicapped people. This project aims at the design and development of a detachable unit which is robust, low cost and user friendly, thus, trying to aggrandize the functionality of the existing white cane, to concede above-knee obstacle detection as well as below-knee detection. The designed mobility stick which is low cost, sturdy, and robust can be easily operated uses ultrasound sensors for detecting the obstructions before direct contact. It offers haptic feedback to the user in accordance with the position of the obstacle.