Design and Development of a Smart Hybrid E-Cane for Visually Impaired People for Indoor Environments

The objective of the research work is to design and develop a smart and viable mobility-aid in the form of a hybrid e-cane for visually-impaired people for indoor environments. Visually impaired persons find themselves challenging to go out independently and are always in need of helping hands. The objective is to give blind users the ability to move around in unfamiliar environments, for indoor through a user friendly interface. The idea is to provide a simple walking stick equipped with sensors to give an active feedback to the user about the environment. The smart white cane uses the ultrasonic sensors arranged in such a way that it detects pits, potholes, downfalls, a staircase ( up and down), low lying and knee level obstacles and even those above the waist. The user is notified about the same by the pre-recorded sound messages and a haptic feedback in form of vibrations. This can considerably alleviate the risk of accidents. The vibration becomes stronger with increasing obstacle approachability. Thus the overall aim of the device is to provide a convenient and safe method for the blind to overcome their difficulties in day-to-day life.