– The first wearable technology for blinds
– Using ultrasonic waves to detect the obstacles
– Notifying the user through vibrations/buzzer sound
Third eye for blinds is an innovation which helps the blinds people to navigate with speed and confidence by detecting the nearby obstacles using the help of ultrasonic waves and notify them with buzzer sound or vibration. They only need to wear this device as a band or cloth.
According to WHO 39 million peoples are estimated as blinds worldwide. They are suffering a lot of harder ship in there daily life.The affected ones have been using the traditional white cane for many years which although being effective, still has a lot of disadvantages. Another way is, having a pet animal such as a dog, but it is really expensive. So the aim of the project is to develop a cheap and more efficient way to help visually impaired to navigate with greater comfort, speed and confidence.
Watch the video of it’s working.
Watch the video that came in a news channel (Malayalam language)
Novelty of the project
This is the first wearable technology for blinds which resolves all the problems of existing technologies. Now a days there are so many instruments and smart devices for visually impaired peoples for navigation but most of them have certain problems for carrying and the major drawbacks is those need a lot of training to use. The one of the main peculiarity of this innovation is, it is affordable for everyone, the total cost being less than $25 (~1500INR). There are no such devices available in the market that can be worn like a cloth and having such a low cost and simplicity. When used on a large scale, with improvements in the prototype, it will drastically benefit the community.
Step 1: Existing Systems
1.White cane
2.Pet dog
3.Smart devices (eg : Vision a torch for blinds)
Problem of the Existing Systems:
* White cane – May easily crack/break,The stick may get stuck at pavement cracks of different objects.
* Pet dog – Huge cost. (~$42,000 / 280000Rs )
* Common Disadvantages (Including the the smart devices) Cannot be carried easily, needs a lot of training to use…
The features of Third eye for blinds:
By wearing this device they can fully avoid the use of white cane and such other devices. This device will help the blind to navigate without holding a stick which is a bit annoying for them. They can simply wear it as a band or cloth and it can function very accurately and they only need a very little training to use it.
Step 2: Full Description of the Project
I have designed a special wearable device based on the arduino board which can be worn like a cloth for blinds. This device is equipped with five ultrasonic sensors, consisting of five modules which are connected to the different parts of the body. Among them, two for both shoulder, another two for both knees and one for the hand. Using the five ultrasonic sensors, blind can detect the objects in a five dimensional view around them and can easily travel anywhere. When the ultrasonic sensor detects obstacle the device will notify the user through vibrations and sound beeps. The intensity of vibration and rate of beeping increases with decrease in distance and this is a fully automated device.
Feature improvements
The entire project can be made in the form of jacket, so that the device doesn’t need to be wear one by one. Use of specially designed boards instead of arduino and high quality ultrasonic sensors makes faster response which make the device capable of working in crowded.
Step 3: Tested Successfully With the Help of a Visually Impaired Person.
Read more about this here in the FB post by our school science teacher.
Awards won for this innovation.
- 1st price for PPT innovation award
- 2nd price in state level science fair. (Conducted by Government of Kerala)
Step 4: Prototyping of the Idea – Parts Used
Materials
- 5 x Arduino pro mini
- 5 x Ultrasonic sensor
- 5 x Perfboard
- 5 x Vibrating motor
- 5 x Buzzers
- 5 x Red LEDs
- 5 x Switches
- Male and female header pins
- 4 x Jumper cable
- One power bank
- One 3.3 volt old mobile battery
- Some elastics and stickers(to make it as a band for wearing)
Step 5: Circuit Diagram
Wiring instruction.
Ground of LED, buzzer and vibration motor to GND of arduino
+ve of LED and middle leg of switch to Arduino pin 5
+ve of Buzzer to first leg of switch
+ve of Vibration motor to third leg of switch
Ultrasonic sensor
Ultrasonic sensor pin VCC – Arduino pin VCC
Ultrasonic sensor pin GND – Arduino pin GND
Ultrasonic sensor pin Trig – Arduino pin 12
Ultrasonic sensor pin Echo – Arduino PIN 12
The switch used here is for selecting the mode. ( buzzer or vibration mode.)
Figure 2 – Powering the modules – Connect the 4 arduino pro mini to a USB male pin and connect to a power bank. For the module in the hand use a small lithium battery.
Read more: THIRD EYE FOR THE BLIND – an Innovative Wearable Technology for Blinds.
