Track Manager for the Blind and the Visually Disabled

[Link] Bharani, [Link], Arun K.J, and [Link]

Abstract This paper describes an efficient methodology for aiding

the blind and the visually impaired in their navigation. Track manager is basically a pair of shoes along with a remote control, and an ear phone. It works in two modes in a domestic environment. a) Track recorder mode in which the track manager records the track initially and guides the blind from the next time with voice output. Recording tracks involves 2 parameters: number of steps taken and the direction. The former is calculated with the help of a footswitch and the latter is found using a digital compass. These devices are connected to the microcontroller fitted in the shoes.b) Staircase mode which helps the user to find the location of staircase and climb up or down the stairs easily. It employs an obstacle detection unit using infrared sensors. Traffic mode: In this mode only the obstacles detection system is activated.

safe navigation like white cane [1], smart cane[2], laser cane[3]. This has several limitations such as a range limited to the length of the cane, typically one pace ahead of the user, difficulties detecting overhanging obstacles, and difficulties storing in public places. But all systems are focused on one particular problem and require the blind to carry a device along, difficulty in using, training the blind first to understand the outputs and give inputs. WICON [4] is a sensor based shoe that helps the blind person in obstacle detection only. But it does not help them face all their navigation problems. But there is no system so far that integrates the solution to all their problems, wherever they go, considering their ease to handle it. Track manager integrates different technologies and guides the visually impaired in all aspects wherever they go, be it their house, a hotel or on the street. The main advantage of track manager is that the person need not carry a cane or any such tool or device along. He can just wear the shoes just like others and a small earphone and microphone. Carrying a small remote control which is just like a mobile will surely not be an additional burden like carrying a big cane along. II. DESCRIPTION The system consists of a pair of shoes, ear phone and a small remote control with an alphanumeric key pad. A. Track Recorder Mode To record the track for the first time the visually impaired should take the help of someone. Track manager shoes must be worn and a starting point must be chosen in the house from which the other destination tracks are recorded. For the first time the person should press the record key standing in the starting point. The system will ask him the name of the starting point and name of the track or the destination and the user records it with his/her voice or with a voice he can easily comprehend. The user also assigns a unique number to the track he records and can refer to this track later by typing out this number in the number pad. For example say the staring point is bedroom and the destination to be recorded is kitchen, the person should give an input bedroom; kitchen and start walking from bedroom to kitchen. The track gets recorded and the 2 parameters get

Keywords Blind, sensor shoes, visually impaired. I. INTRODUCTION The development and application of technology for orientation and mobility has a long history covering the postwar period. Although some early endeavors envisaged systems that might replace the cane or dog guide, more recent efforts have focused on devices and systems designed to supplement and provide a support for these basic mobility tools. Mobility aids like walking stick and guide dogs are still used by the blind even today .With the advancement of technology, some different types of electronic travel aid have been developed to support the mobility of the blind. Most of the commonly used electronic travel aids use ultrasound. All such devices use the principle of reflection of the high frequency ultrasonic beam, and are available in different models. The most widely used primary mobility aid today is the long cane or a walking stick. Various types of canes have already been developed to aid the blind solve many problems for a
[Link] Bharani is with the Department of Computer Science, Sri Sairam Engineering College, Chennai,India. (e-mail: vgangabharani@[Link]). [Link] is with the Department of Computer Science, Sri Sairam Engineering College, Chennai,India. (e-mail: kevinwiliedavid@[Link]). Arun K J is with Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. (e-mail: kj_arun_kj@ [Link]). [Link] is with the Department of Computer Science, Sri Sairam Engineering College, Chennai,India. (e-mail:nity5550@[Link]).

recorded: The number of steps moved and the direction in which the person has moved gets recorded. Once all the tracks in the house are recorded track manager is ready for use. The blind can use it without anybodys help from the next time just by pressing keys in the remote and giving inputs. Hell be guided with recorded voice output as to how he must move, in order to reach the destination. The user can store the tracks for different houses (e.g. his relatives, residences at different cities). This will also help the person to adapt to a new environment easily. Obstacle found in the recorded track will also be detected and the person will be intimated B. Traffic Mode The traffic mode helps the blind to move through the familiar streets nearby and intimate them about the obstacles in their pathway. It can be extended to, telling them when to cross the road. C. Staircase mode The staircases and the tracks to the staircases are also recorded. But since the obstacle detection system will have to work in a different fashion in the stairs we make use of a different mode for it which gets activated when the person reaches there. It intimated the person the presence of staircase and the number of steps he needs to walk down or up. In this mode the obstacle detection sensors are turned off. Unless the user wants any of these modes, the Track Manager is in the Default mode. III. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION In this section, the components of the proposed navigation aid are described in some detail. A. Microcontroller system The microcontroller is the brain and the main hub of the Track manager. Either PIC or ATMEGA microcontrollers can be used for our purposes. The main code is loaded onto the chips memory. It will have access to external memory where the various sound tracks are stored. The functions of the microcontroller will be getting inputs from various input devices, process the information according to the program and control the output devices accordingly. The functioning of the Track manager depends mainly on the program burnt in the microcontroller. The chip has enough main-memory and sufficient number of input/output pins. The algorithms / pseudo-codes for different purposes are given in the appropriate sections. B. Foot Switch The footswitch is placed at the bottom of both the shoes. We call the switch to be in ON state if it is pressed condition i.e.

foot on the floor and OFF otherwise. The purpose of the footswitches is to count the number of steps. C. Remote Control

Remote control is an input device that takes in the input from the user and sends it to the microcontroller. Remote consists of a RF circuit that will convert the button input into suitable RF modulation. It will be demodulated in the shoes and the signal will be sent to the microcontroller. Then the micro controller will take the action accordingly. The keypad switches enable the user to select routes and to enter decision. These keys are of different shapes for easy recognition and to easily differentiate between the keys by touching. The remote control has keys of different shapes for easy identification and to avoid confusion. On pressing each key the system intimates the blind as to what key he has pressed. This will ensure that he/she has pressed the right key. KEYS: [1] Power ON/OFF key, [2] two mode keys [3], [4] record key, [5] repeat key, in case the person wants the voice command to repeat, [6]Yes key,[7]No key. An additional key pad is attached to give inputs referring to track names. D. Speech simulator The speech simulator device is used to generate audio output. The device is provided with sufficient digital storage capability to store a few minutes of high quality, audio record and playback functionality. The speech simulator is activated by output pins of the microcontroller. The output includes the instructions to be given to the user (e.g. right turn, left turn) and the options given to the user (e.g. list of locations). The

list of instructions comes by default by the list of locations, which are numbered for convenient reference, are to be recorded by the user while the track to that location is being recorded. The remote control and the speech simulator will together act as the input and output devices E. Digital Compass The digital compass is used to find out the direction in which the user walks and gives input to the micro-controller which makes the decision regarding which side to turn. Digital Compass Navigation PC Board can be used for this purpose. The 1490 digital compass manufactured by Robson Company can be used on the PC board. This sensor is a solid-state Hall Effect device. It is sensitive enough to detect the Earths weak magnetic field. So, when the user turns around, the compass can find out in which direction he/she is facing and signals the micro-controller. The microcontroller then computes the path to be taken, given a destination, breaks it into smaller instructions and guides the user. F. Wireless communications We have three distinct units in track manager that need to communicate with each other: the two shoes and the remote control. The earphones are connected to the remote control through a pair of wires. Each of these units has a wireless transmitter and receiver circuit in it. Each of them communicates with the left shoe where the microcontroller will be situated. G. IR Sensors The IR sensors attached to the shoes form the obstacle detection system of the Track Manager. The IR sensor has an IR emitter and an IR detector situated close to each other. The emitter emits Infrared radiations in a definite direction. In the presence of an obstacle in that direction, the rays get reflected onto the detector. The detector then receives these radiations and gives a signal to the microcontroller unit. The range in which it can detect the obstacle is generally adjusted using a variable resistor. In each of the shoe, we have two IR sensors. One of it is placed at the foot-tip (S1) and the other on the foot-top (S2), facing at an angle to the horizontal. The sensor S1 is used to detect obstacles that are below knee level and having a wide base (Example: wooden box). The sensor S2 will detect obstacles that extend above and do not have a wide base (Examples: Table, Cot). Note that we cannot tell the user an alternative path since it does not know the extent of the obstacle. But as the user takes an alternate path, the system knows how he has moved and can suggest a way from that point to his actual destination. IV. WORKING PRINCIPLE Apart from the visible components the system consists of a microcontroller, a foot switch, four infra Red sensors and digital compass. The interconnection between different units

are shown in Fig. 3

A. Track Recorder Mode The tracks are recorded based on two parameters: the number of steps in each direction and direction itself. There is a switch attached to the bottom of the left shoe, connected to the microcontroller, which is fixed to the bottom of the left leg . Each time the leg is pressed down while walking the foot switch turns ON and when leg is lifted it is turned OFF. The number of steps taken in each direction stored in the memory of the micro controller. The direction is recorded with the help of a digital compass connected to the microcontroller.

Algorithm: Recording track Begin #steps is initialized to zero @posedge of the footswitch if dirn == prev dirn #steps++ else save(#steps, prev dirn) #steps = 1 End if user presses Record button again Algorithm: User instructions

Begin
Input: User specifies the track / subtrack error = 0

while( #steps > 0 ) { @negedge of footswitch #steps-- ; if dirn now != dirn recorded { intimate user to turn; error++ ; } } if (error>tolerance) intimate user correction; End

(Correction ~ error*(dirn now-dirn recorded) This mode is further divided into two modes: tracks and sub-tracks. Tracks represent routes from door to door and subtrack includes the detailing within the room like fridge, sofa, etc. When record key is pressed, the person is asked to name the route and he walks through the route. The number of steps he moves straight along with the distance is store and the distance at which he takes a turn is also recorded. The digital compass helps in deciding, as to which direction he has turned, right or left. Each track is named with the starting point and ending point. Few new tracks can be recorded by the system by manipulating existing tracks. For example bedroom is chosen as overall source and we need to move from study room to dining hall. Study room to dining hall is not a prerecorded track. The two pre recorded tracks involved are source to study room and source to dining hall. The manipulation of the number of steps and direction is automatically done by the system with the help of simple logic involving the prerecorded tracks. To source: from study room: (prerecorded) (D3:6 steps) + (-D1:1 step) From source to Dining Hall : (prerecorded) (D1:2 steps) + (D3:8 steps) + (-D1:2 steps) Combining both (Manipulation): Study room to Dining Hall: (D3:6 steps) + (D1:1 steps) + (D3:8 steps) + (-D1:2 steps) Every new track is recorded automatically; in this case Study room-Dining hall track is recorded. The system calculates the speed of the vehicle approaching and matches it with average walking speed of the person. The road length is measured using the sensor and the step length is subtracted each time a foot tap is made. When this difference B. Traffic mode The obstacle detection system works similar to the way it works indoors. This mode can be enhanced by adding a feature to intimate the user when to cross the road. Only after enough research is done about the traffic and road conditions, this feature can be added. The basic idea is presented here:

Similarly for direction manipulation the system compares the current direction and recorded direction of turn and the difference is calculated. If the difference is in the right quadrant, then output is Turn right. If it is in left quadrant Turn left is the output

drops to zero the person is intimated that he has crossed the road. Distance of the vehicle from the person and its speed is calculated. With these details time of reach of the vehicle to the point near the person is calculated. Similarly the road length and persons waking speed give the crossing time of the person. With these simple calculations the system helps the blind in his decision making about crossing the road. 1) Intimation before cross: if crossing time> reach time of the vehicle then Dont cross intimation else Cross intimation 2) Intimation after cross: Counter= { Road Length / Average step length }; while Counter>0 then @posedge of footswitch Counter = Counter- 1 Youve crossed intimation In case of any obstacle found in the way the system intimates the blind. The road-crossing module can be implemented only after adequate research is done about the road and traffic conditions. There will be intimation when the battery has to be replaced and whenever the system crashes.

environment which makes it advantageous. The error in direction made by the user is made note of and suitable corrective steps are suggested. To conclude, we would like to say that engineering does not just stop at gaining knowledge and innovating, it ends when you are able to use that knowledge for the benefit of your fellow human beings. As the saying goes, If engineering is the application of science for human benefit, then the engineer must be a student of not only the application of science but of human benefit as well. REFERENCES
[1] Yuan, D.; Manduchi, R.; Dynamic environment exploration using a virtual white cane,in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2005. CVPR 2005. IEEE Computer Society Conference. [2]Tahat, A.A. ,A wireless ranging system for the blind long-cane utilizing a smart-phone, in Telecommunications, 2009. ConTEL 2009. [3] Bolgiano, D. Meeks; A Laser Cane for the Blind, in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal (2003). [4] Zhang, J.; Lip, C.W.; Ong, S.K.; Nee, A.; A multiple sensor-based shoe-mounted user interface designed for navigation systems for the visually impaired in Wireless Internet Conference (WICON), 2010 The 5th Annual ICST

V. CONCLUSION The proposed navigation aid has been developed in order to enhance the independent mobility of blind individuals. This system needs no additional huge device to be carried along and it also doesnt need any special training as the input output system is very simple. This system also focuses on most of the navigation problems faced by blind, within familiar indoors. Its application is widened to any new