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Cane With Arduino For People With Visual Impairment

Presented By:

Abraham Beltrán Ballen

Fabián Tamara Luna

Alejandro Santiago Guerrero

Science Technology and Innovation

Presented To:

Tatiana Arrieta Barrios

Corporation University of the Coast

Faculty of Engineering

Barranquilla, Atlántico

2019
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SUMMARY

This research proposes to devise a device that improves the quality of life of the
individuals with severe visual impairment, the aim is to achieve through the construction of
an electronic system capable of detecting certain types of obstacles that are difficult to perceive
with a cane for visually impaired people. The device has been developed as a
assistance device, complementary to the cane, for blind people. Its objective
primordial is to detect obstacles and inform the user through acoustic sounds of
the location of the same, both in distance and direction.

On the other hand, human beings use their sensory organs to locate themselves and
to move in their environment and when a person lacks any of them, a generation of
natural form, a process of adaptation to enhance other senses that compensate for the
missing. In relation to blind people, other senses such as the
hearing and touch to navigate, but still his movement is not normal because
they must use instruments like the white cane or Hoover cane, which provides a
the extension of the hand of the blind person that allows them to touch the surface on which they
moves to navigate and avoid obstacles present on the way.

justification

People who lose their sight due to some circumstance, or the blind from
birth, they present great disadvantages and difficulties in a world that is every day
more visual. In this regard, we can see that constructions today are designed
taking this group of people into account so that their movements are fewer
complicated and reliable because they have extensive information about the environment
that surrounds them, beyond what is obtained with the cane. However, in our country the
The designs of the buildings are not relevant to this issue of minorities.
the blind

In these cases, it is essential that people with visual disabilities use

a device for mobility, usually they use a white cane which provides
a probable displacement, but this alone is not enough because many
people who use it do not feel confident and secure enough to go out without
company of another person to guide them.

These are the reasons that give viability and justify projects like the present one, with the
which aims to design a system that provides a greater degree of trust and
safety so that people with this disability can move around with
independence. The achievement of this project is to contribute to a satisfactory improvement which
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be a more essential and practical tool for those people who have a
visual impairment, therefore, we seek a way for this tool to be easy
access, as certain people in this population considerably do not have the
sufficient resources to acquire it. The development of the cane is feasible because
currently in the market there is a great variety, where one can find the
necessary supplies to carry out its development. This device does not
it intends to replace the white cane or HOOVER cane used by people
with visual impairment, but on the contrary, it is a technological device that
it aims to provide support to the cane that these people use.
Vision loss comes with a loss of independence: people
The blind are unable to take advantage of the benefits of navigation, interactivity.
social and communication. Mobility according to Foulke represents 'the ability to travel'
safely, comfortably, and independently through the environment. Starting from
the restrictions that 34 Lengua et al entails the blindness and the definition of mobility,
It can be inferred how far such a goal is.

The sustainable development goal that this project aims for is 'Health and Well-Being.'
since this device contributes to people's health by promoting them to the
blind people a better quality of life where they are facilitated thanks to a
electronic system with the ability to detect some type of obstacle and
it also helps their well-being as they can feel more comfortable thanks to this
innovative tool. For this reason, it is proposed to implement this device since the
Healthy people are better equipped to contribute to the development of their countries.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 285 million people
suffer from visual disabilities (World Health Organization, n.d.), 90% of
these people live in developing countries. According to the census conducted in Colombia by
the DANE in 2010, there are 44,086 people with visual disabilities, of which
approximately 16,198 are children between the ages of 0 and 14; these individuals
they claimed to have difficulties in carrying out their daily activities mainly
in places such as housing, public roads, and parks, among others (DANE, n.d.), due to the
different barriers present in these places.

Throughout history, people with visual impairments have used canes as

help to navigate through obstacles. But in the 20th century they began to face
new terrifying challenges when cars replaced carriages in the
city streets, streets that often did not have traffic lights or crosswalks.
The simple canes still worked for them to walk on the sidewalks, but not
they served as a warning sign to motorists.
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The difficulty in identifying obstacles above where the cane ends, that is,
Above the handle, it is one of the main problems that blind people face.
they have at the moment of moving from one place to another, even more so when this is not very
frequented.

Historically, science has been interested in studying nature, generating

knowledge about everything around us, essential for all fields of knowledge and
therefore for the field of Engineering and medicine. Engineering has been responsible for
to devise solutions for a multiplicity of problems aimed at improving the quality of
life of humanity, permeating both the industrial field and that of its life
daily; in the same way, medicine has worked to combat health problems,
to which human beings are vulnerable. Providing the best permanently.
solutions, these disciplines have come together and allowed the invention of systems and
devices that provide great help in the well-being of people, this union is
known as bioengineering.
This is because the tool (White Cane or Hoover Cane) that they use to
identifying the surface on which they walk does not provide them with enough autonomy to
identify certain types of surfaces or obstacles in the way. This research
aims to devise a solution that improves trust and safety in transportation of
people who do not have this important sense organ, through a
electronic system, adaptable to the cane they already use. This research proposes
to devise a device that improves the quality of life for people with visual disabilities
severe, intends to achieve through the construction of an electronic system capable of
detect certain types of obstacles, which are difficult to perceive with a cane for people
blind people. The experimental tests carried out demonstrate the potential that
it can have for blind people. It is proven that with the help of the device
Acoustically, users feel safer when moving through the streets, due to
that have extensive information about their surroundings, beyond what is obtained
with the cane.

STATE OF THE ART

The cane is a mobility and orientation tool with which the person
a disabled person can enhance their sense of touch as it allows them to feel the person.
the conditions of the land that is in front of it.

Technology has also taken the task of modernizing, since now some
the walking sticks have GPS; even the University of Oxford invented glasses that
allow blind people to identify everything around them and avoid
possible accidents; just as today there are other alternatives to the cane to facilitate
the performance of blind people. The cane allows blind people
the blind carry out their activities in public spaces with much more confidence.
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The cane has been used for centuries as a tool for the mobility of the elderly,
the visually impaired or people with problems that require additional support for their
lower extremities to move.

Sticks with facial recognition, capable of guiding indoors or detecting obstacles

are some of the alternatives that have emerged in recent months. A company
Spanish opts for 'apps' and 'wearables' so that the visually impaired can not only reach their
destination, but also get to know all the details of the route thanks to a voice
synthetic.

Currently, the white cane is the main aid for people with disabilities.
visual, given that it is very useful and economical compared to its main competition,
guide dogs.

The story of the white cane dates back to 1921 when James Biggs, a photographer from
Bristol, England, who had lost his vision in a traffic accident, decided to paint.
his white cane to be easily visible to pedestrians and drivers. In February of
In 1931, Guilly d’Herbemount presented the project promoting the use of white canes.
for people with visual disabilities in France, this campaign was published in the
British press and sponsored by rotating groups throughout the United Kingdom. In
May of that same year, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) proposed that all the
blind people or those with any visual disability should have a cane
white with the universal symbol of having some type of visual impairment. (Philip, 2009).

On the other hand, in the United States in 1930, a member of the Lions Club observed a
blind carry a black cane which made him less noticeable to drivers and
people around them, given these circumstances, the lions club decided to paint them
in white, then, in 1931 the club would launch a national campaign promoting the
use of this by the disabled.

Subsequently, the white cane began to carve its way into policies of
government in different States. The first decree was established in December of
1930 in Peoria, Illinois, this granted protection to blind pedestrians and yielded the
right lane of the road to those who carry a white cane. Then the state of
Michigan in 1935 began to promote the use of the tool as a symbol of
blindness, in 1936 in the city of Detroit the decree recognizing the cane was established
white, just as in these, the other states were instituting laws regarding the
white cane and visual impairment.
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OBJECTIVES

generalObjective

Design and build the functional prototype of a smart cane that facilitates the
autonomous mobility for people with visual impairment.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

Explore and analyze the state of the art of the different applications that refer to
smart canes for people with visual impairment, so that they can
establish the advantages, disadvantages, and differences between them.

Determine the mobility and orientation needs of people with

visual impairment, defining which functional specifications will be addressed by the
prototype.

Define the main objects and areas that pose a danger to people
blind people.

Design the hardware and software of the smart cane that allows for creating a prototype.
functional.

PROPOSED METHODOLOGY

This project has two phases, the first aims to collect the most information.
possible provided by a group of blind people, who will be questioned
about what kind of difficulties they encounter when moving with the
help of your cane, with the purpose of identifying the needs and requirements that
they should be solved by the system to be developed, in addition to literature reviews
as main sources of information.

The second phase of project development may encompass the entire design process.
of the hardware and software of the alpha prototype, as well as its performance deployment
for the collection of information and the subsequent creation of a beta prototype.
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EXPECTED RESULTS

It is sought that the affected population has the ease of obtaining this tool and thus
They can easily move through different areas of the city without receiving any kind of harm.
physical and as a result of the tests, it was deduced that it is advisable to change the limit of
lower detection of the front sensor, given that it is very close to the device,
it generates unnecessary detections, this due to being within the detection range
of the cane.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] University Disability Visual, 2008 [En line]. Available:

The provided text is a URL and does not contain translatable content. ad-
visual/[Link]. [Last accessed: March 1, 2016].

[2] WHO Press Center, "Blindness and Visual Impairment," August 2014. [Online].
Available: [Link] [Last accessed: April 18]
2016.

Colombia has 1.14 million people with visual problems.

November 2013 En line. Available:
[Link]
with-visual-problems. [Last accessed: April 29, 2016].

[4]Unable to access external links.

[5]Content from the provided URL cannot be accessed or translated as it does not contain visible text.
cane for the blind

[6]White Cane

[7] Sensor

[8] Unable to access the content of the provided URL.

technology-sticks_0_396160531.html
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