About the project
Why this project
The Approach
How it works
The Setup
Additional's
Challenges
Another Alternative
The next steps and plans
Appreciation

Shaukatali Hussein

•

Sahil Abdulalim

•

Said Kassim

Published November 11, 2022 © GPL3+

Smart Mobility Stick

Assistive guide stick allowing people with visual impairments to manoeuvre around on a daily basis

BeginnerFull instructions provided3 hours414

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Seeed Studio seed mini vibrating motor

Seeed Studio Grove - Ultrasonic Ranger

Arduino Nano R3

Buzzer

Jumper wires (generic)

9V battery (generic)

Seeed Studio Grove Base Shield V2.0 for Arduino

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Tape, Clear

wooden stick

Hot glue gun (generic)

Story

About the project:

This project has been developed several times by many such innovators, however I felt the need to acknowledge the efforts taken by my students who were fairly new to the world of coding and programming. So here we go!

Why this project:

In the vocational school that I work in, the students here come from different backgrounds, some of which have visual and hearing impairments. Hence the other students are taught sign language as part of their curriculum in order to communicate with people with these challenges. At the same time, every Tuesday and Thursday the students with these challenges have after school club activities where they learn a variety of interesting skills including carpentry, pottery and fabrication in very interesting approach and methodologies. This really got me and my students excited and we got started!

The Approach:

We began by first understanding how to use an arduino and working with a variety of sensors, which included a project based learning methodology for every sensor they got their hands on. Eventually, we began combining the electronics, coding/programming skills and addressing challenges that we found are yet to be solved. From which, the concept rose, where the students decided to build a smart stick through an obstacle course to share their experience as well as showcase how the use of simple and low cost technology can have a huge impact.

1 / 6 • Introduction to Arduino

How it works:

The ultrasonic sensor measures distance based on the time taken for the sonic wave to be received echo pin, after being transmitted by the trigger pin. We generate multiple "waves" by providing short term delays to the trigger pin by switching it on and off.

We then began configuring the distances for which, each range would have the buzzer and/or motor vibrate frequently the closer you got to the object ahead

Note: We used a buzzer and a mini vibrating motor to serve the purpose to aid people with visual and/or hearing impairments.

The Setup:

Step 1: Begin by wiring all the components as per the schematics shared.

Step 2: Secure the Arduino nano in the middle of the stick, with the buzzer/ vibrating motor placed up close to the top at the point of gripping and the ultrasonic sensor slightly closer to the tip of the base to measure the distance ahead.

Step 3: Upload the code shared to the Arduino and check if everything is working well.

Step 4: If all is well, you're good to go!

The final prototype

Additional's:

1. You could make a small obstacle course as we did to share the experience and bring some interesting feedback and findings from the people who experience it. For those who aren't having any sort of impairments, I would recommend putting on a blindfold to share the experience of what it's like being in the position of those people with such impairments.

2. You can also modify the distance and vibrating/ buzzing intervals respectively to suite whats best for you. Play around and have fun!

1 / 7 • Testing out

Challenges:

Since this idea isn't exactly something that can be used in the real world just yet, some of the observations and feedback that we received truly guided us to think about the next upgrade we would want to begin working on in the near future. Here are some of our observations:

1. The sensor placed in the front can only be used to detect obstacles ahead, meaning any obstacle below, such as a pot hole or on either side wouldn't easily be detected. At the same time, if the gripping position was not well aligned or explained, the individual would most likely move the stick around causing the sensor to point else where and lead to reading another direction completely.

2. The lifespan of operation wasn't very long, within 3-4 hours of continuous operation the battery would run out and hence needed immediate replacement to avoid inconveniences.

3. The angle at which the ultrasonic sensor was placed could only detect obstacles in front, usually at the footwear level. Obstacles likely to be encountered above that all the way to the head would not be detected hence leading to accidents.

Another Alternative:

Since the focus by the students this time was around the use of a stick/can, another idea that could use the same concept would be smart glasses. Instead of the stick/can, you could build the entire concept on a pair of spare glasses (preferably big ones used on construction sites) which would house and hold the parts carefully)

The next steps and plans:

Having seen the outcome and receiving some great feedback from our users, we do intend to improve the design with a few add ons having discussed with the students in the near future:

1. A camera mount that could provide live feed/ coverage based on a machine learning algorithm to guide the individual

2. A google maps guide interface along with the point above that can be placed as an ear piece to the visually impaired individual

3. A panic button incase one feels they are overwhelmed and are at a position where they need assistance, this would be included as part of an app feature which would allow any near by service station, be it local police as an example, to provide assistance whoever is nearby.

Appreciation:

A huge shoutout to Seeed and the entire team for supporting us with the hardware as well as the Hackathon since its launch. Looking forward to our collaborative journey ahead together!

Code

int trigpin=12;
int echopin=11;

long distance, duration;

int buzzer =3;
int motor =2;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(buzzer,OUTPUT);
pinMode(motor,OUTPUT);
pinMode(trigpin,OUTPUT);
pinMode(echopin,INPUT);
}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
digitalWrite(trigpin,LOW);
delayMicroseconds(10);
digitalWrite(trigpin,HIGH);
delayMicroseconds(12);
digitalWrite(trigpin,LOW);
delayMicroseconds(10);

duration=pulseIn(echopin,HIGH);
distance=((duration/2)*0.034);
Serial.print("Distance is ");
Serial.println(distance);
delay(100);

if (distance<=20 && distance>=15)
{
  digitalWrite(buzzer,HIGH);
  digitalWrite(motor,HIGH);
  delay(500);
  digitalWrite(buzzer,LOW);
  digitalWrite(motor,LOW);
  delay(500);
  
}
else if(distance<15 && distance >=8)
{
  digitalWrite(buzzer,HIGH);
  digitalWrite(motor,HIGH);
  delay(80);
  digitalWrite(buzzer,LOW);
  digitalWrite(motor,LOW);
  delay(80);
}
else if (distance<8 && distance>=0)
{
  digitalWrite(buzzer,HIGH);
  digitalWrite(motor,HIGH);
  delay(30);
  digitalWrite(buzzer,LOW);
  digitalWrite(motor,LOW);
  delay(30);
}
else
{
  digitalWrite(buzzer,LOW);
  digitalWrite(motor,LOW);
}
    
}

#include "Ultrasonic.h"
 
Ultrasonic ultrasonic(7);
int buzzer =3;
int motor =2;
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(buzzer,OUTPUT);
pinMode(motor,OUTPUT);
}
void loop()
{
    long RangeInCentimeters;
 
    RangeInCentimeters = ultrasonic.MeasureInCentimeters(); // two measurements should keep an interval
    Serial.print(RangeInCentimeters);//0~400cm
    Serial.println(" cm");
    delay(100);
if (RangeInCentimeters<=20 && RangeInCentimeters>=15)
{
  digitalWrite(buzzer,HIGH);
  digitalWrite(motor,HIGH);
  delay(500);
  digitalWrite(buzzer,LOW);
  digitalWrite(motor,LOW);
  delay(500);
  
}
else if(RangeInCentimeters<15 && RangeInCentimeters >=8)
{
  digitalWrite(buzzer,HIGH);
  digitalWrite(motor,HIGH);
  delay(80);
  digitalWrite(buzzer,LOW);
  digitalWrite(motor,LOW);
  delay(80);
}
else if (RangeInCentimeters<8 && RangeInCentimeters>=0)
{
  digitalWrite(buzzer,HIGH);
  digitalWrite(motor,HIGH);
  delay(30);
  digitalWrite(buzzer,LOW);
  digitalWrite(motor,LOW);
  delay(30);
}
else
{
  digitalWrite(buzzer,LOW);
  digitalWrite(motor,LOW);
}
    
}