Smart Walking Stick for Blind
BEN 2021 WINNER
SAGNIK NAG
AMITY UNIVERSITY
sagniknag234@gmail.com
PurposeÂ
The 2011 statistics by the World Health Organization estimates that there are 70 million people in the world living with visual impairment, 7 million of which are blind and 63 million with low vision.
Recently, much research effort focused on the design of Electronic Travel Aids to enable successful and free navigation for the blind. Moreover, the high-end technological solutions have been introduced recently to help blind people navigate independently. Ultrasound emitters and detectors are portable components that can be carried without the need for complex circuit, and are cheap to manufacture. RF module helps the person to find the stick wherever it is placed by the following method: the user presses a button on the remote control, consequently the buzzer rings, and helps them identify it.
My Solution
The knowledge of visual impairment can especially be useful in developing machines and robots which are required to work in dark places, which provide almost very little to no visual stimuli. The smart walking stick (my innovation) is unique in its own way and can help visually impaired people not only detect obstacles but also during various other facets of life. It is very economical and can be operated with electricity or electric batteries. It comprises various infrared and ultrasonic sensors helping in navigation.
There are many other blind walking sticks available in the market, my innovation here being that my stick is fully automated and has features like GPS (if the person is lost, it will send signals to emergency contact to rescue them; the GPS is also connected to speakers guiding the person straight back home).
It also has temperature sensors & pulse detection sensors to constantly monitor the health profile of the impaired on the road to avoid any sort of emergency. If the impaired person is under any danger or suffers from any health issues like a rise in heartbeat or a temperature rise – a notification would be sent to the emergency contacts of the impaired person.
Reference (Apr-21-A9)
