Dynamic Sensor Orientation Unit for the Intelligent Mobility Cane
Manu Suresh, Jagannadh Pariti, Tae Tom Oh · 2019
Numerous studies have been conducted to improve the features of the "smart" canes. However, there is insufficient research performed to develop the guidelines to create a usable smart cane. In this paper, a Dynamic Sensor Orientation Unit (DSOU) is introduced to maintain a detection distance irrespective of the angle of the cane. The paper also aims to outline guidelines for placement of the Obstacle Detection System (ODS) and the sensor angle to be used in our Intelligent Mobility Cane (IMC) prototypes. A usability test with 11 people who use a white cane for daily navigation was conducted to study the users' preference and behavior with a fixed sensor angle IMC. The analysis revealed the angle of the sensor is dependent on the participant's height and how users hold the canes. The results suggest requirements for sensor angle orientation and outline guidelines for ODS designs on future IMCs.