Abstract

Blindness is a state of lack of visual perception, which leads to the inability to see anything, including light. Complete blindness is the total absence of light, but partial blindness represents the lack of integration in the growth of the optic nerve or visual center of the eye. In some cases, lens occupied glasses will help to improve partial blindness. Low vision cannot be corrected by visual aids such as glasses and contacts.

In those situations, it is too difficult to find or detect obstacles in front of them, which makes it dangerous. They need some aid to feel safe while navigating. Conventional Blind canes are widely used for assistance, but it has too many limitations. Thus, the current scenario needs a technologically developed cane. Thus, Smart cane comes as a proposed solution for visually impaired people. In this experimental work, we implanted a simple, economical, and user-friendly smart blind guidance system.

This system is designed to improve the mobility of both visually impaired and blind people, and to remove the curse of blindness, to make them self-dependent to do their daily routines. The proposed work includes the design of a lightweight adaptable cane with multiple sensors connected to an Arduino board, along with a handle head and sticks elongator.

A conventional white cane forms the main base frame of the device, ultrasonic and water sensors are mounted at appropriate locations to detect obstacles and it can scan a predetermined area, both known and unknown locations around blind by emitting-reflecting waves with the help of that blind stick.

The equipped sensors send signals to an Arduino programmed board, which communicates with the alarm unit that comprises a buzzer and LEDs and gives some recorded audio clips to navigate the blind people safely. An audio jack is also available in the blind cane whose presence is not found in other conventional canes. The system can also control the peripheral components that alert the user about the obstacle’s shape, material, and direction.

The device is lightweight and is been powered by a battery. Thus the system is easy to use and is an innovative reasonably priced solution to blind and visually impaired people. The power consumption is too low, and the stick is economic over the conventional ones that exits already.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background and Context of the Study

Visual impairment is considered as a major global health issue. According to World Health Organization (WHO) and National Federation of the Blind(NFB), the visual impairment and causes have been estimated in the year 2010. There are more than 250 million people who are visually impaired and out of which 36 million people are blind [1]. Among them, 82% of the total blindness is for people with 50 years and older.

This includes those with moderate or severe distance vision impairment or blindness due to unaddressed refractive error, cataract, glaucoma, corneal opacities, diabetic retinopathy, trachoma and age-related macular degeneration are more common [2]. Blind people need a tool that can easily be used by them and it would be nice if they can be used together with a cane that they used in everyday activities.

Cane is one of the tools which is used by blind today to help them in mobility. Cane is a tool for detecting obstacles and leading them toward their destination. However, its function still has limitations, especially in convincing the blind if it has reached the destination or not. Therefore, technologies are considered the best solution to assist this community of blind people to perform tasks as the normal people. Nowadays, different types of such canes have been used such as white cane, the smart cane [3], and the laser cane [4].

The white cane is a long cane that helps navigate and avoid obstacles on the road. It is their visual aid that helps identify dents, platform edges, steps, uneven surfaces. Some of them choose to use a cane to move around while others use it to let people know about their visual impairment. It is important to understand that not all of them are entirely blind or have the same eye condition. The objective of the paper is to discuss the development work of a cane that could communicate with the users through voice alert and vibration, which is named Smart Cane which involves coding and physical installation.

This study provides another piece of work and future research direction by providing an alternative solution in the smart cane body of knowledge and development. The proposed smart cane integrates three different devices which are obstacle detection, GSM module and GPS module to monitor the visually impaired location. Furthermore, this study contributes to improving the protection and safety of its user while navigating an outdoor and unfamiliar area.

1.2 Problem Statement

The blind Cane is one of the assisting tools for the visually-impaired and it is really important. According to Herman [5], one of the main problems of the visually-impaired, is that most of these people have lost their physical integrity. Also, they do not have confidence in themselves.

Some of the problems posed include:

• Difficulty for the visually-impaired to navigate safely and quickly.
• Lack of confidence in convincing the blind if it has reached the destination.
• Communicate with the users through voice alert and vibration.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

1.3.1 General objectives

The overview objectives of this project are to:

1. Help the blind navigate their way around the environment.
2. Provide assistance and help the blind have a feeling of belonging.
3. Obtain, and communicate environmental situations to the blind
4. Instill in them a feeling of confidence and hope even without their eye sight

Check Out: Computer Engineering Project Topics with Materials