ULTRASONIC HAPTIC VISION SYSTEM FOR BLINDLY

DISABLED INDIVIDUALS

Abstract
For those with no or limited sense of sight, navigating through the world can
be a challenge. The visually impaired must rely on senses other than sight
such as hearing and touch to guide them. The motivation is to replace the
walking stick with something that can detect objects in the immediate
vicinity of the person. Haptics is any form of interaction involving touch.
Haptic communication, the means by which people and other animals
communicate via touching. Haptic perception, the process of recognizing
objects through touch. Ultrasonic sensors are used to detect the objects
present on the way of blind people. Then feedback will be delivered to the
user by varying vibration and voice output will produce using MP3 player.
RFID technology is used to inform the blind people about the current place

Introduction
God gifted sense of vision to the human being is an important aspect of our
life. But there are some unfortunate people who lack the ability of
visualizing things. The visually impaired have to face many challenges in
their daily life. The problem gets worse when they travel to an unfamiliar
location.
To overcome these problems faced by blind people, we have come up with a
solution which helps them to walk freely and fulfill their requirements using
speech reorganization. The ultrasonic haptic vision system enables a person
to navigate hallways and around large objects without sight, through the use
of an ultrasonic rangefinder that haptically interfaces with the user via tiny
vibrating motors mounted on the user’s head. RFID technology is used to
inform the blind people about the current place. MP3 player will produce the
voice output in every case.

Literature survey

Over the last decades, research has been conducted for new devices to
design a good and reliable system for blind people to detect obstacles and
warn them at danger places. There are some systems which has some
deficiencies. Shoval et. al in developed a Navbelt, an obstacle avoidance
wearable portable computer which is only for indoor navigation. Navbelt
was equipped with two modes, in the first one the system information was
translated to audio in different sounds. One sound for free for travel
direction and other for blocked, it was difficult for the person to differentiate
the sounds. Other problem was the system would not know the user
momentary position.
D. Yuan et al. in have discussed about the virtual white cane sensing device
based on active triangulation, that can measure distances at a rate of 15
measurements/second. A blind person can use this device for sensing the
environment, pointing it as if it was a flash light. Beside measuring
distances, this device can detect surface discontinuities, such as the foot of a
wall, a step, or a drop-off. This is obtained by analyzing the range data
collected as the user swings the device around, tracking planar patches and
finding discontinuities. Benjamin et al. in introduce a laser cane with three
photo diodes and three laser diodes function as receiver making an optical
triangulation. The laser cane detects the obstacle in three different directions.
 One is 45º to the ground for overhanging obstacles, the second one is
parallel to the ground and third one is for sharp deepness. The laser cane has
no system for determining location and position. J. Na proposed an
interactive guide system for indoor positioning, which can’t detect the
obstacles and hurdles. The system is not suitable for the outdoor activities.
S. Innet and N. Ritnoom in have introduced a stick for distance measurement
using infrared sensors, which is a complex and time wasting process. The
stick has different vibration modes for different range which is difficult for a
blind to differentiate, it needs time for training. The stick informs the person
clearly at dangerous stage which conveys less information and safety.

Demo Points

 LCD is used in order to show the working of every unit.

 In this prototype ultrasonic sensor is used to check the obstacle
present.
 RFID tags will be place at different places and RFID reader is used to
detect those places.
 MP3 player is used to give voice output.
 DC motor is used to produce the vibrations.

LCD

Block Diagram
SD
Card

RENESAS MP3
RL78 Speaker
RFID RFID Microcontroller
Tags Reader

3 set ultrasonic Motor 3 set DC

sensor driver Motor
Components Used
 Renesas microcontroller
 MP3 module
 SD card
 LCD
 Ultrasonic sensor
 RFID Reader and RFID Tags
 Speaker

Software Used
 CubeSutie+
 Renesas flash programmer

Description
Many embedded systems have substantially different designs
according to their functions and utilities. In this project design, structured
modular design concept is adopted and the system is mainly composed of a
Renesas microcontroller, LCD, MP3, Ultrasonic sensor (HCSR04) and DC
Motor.
 The microcontroller located at the centre of the block diagram forms
the control unit of the entire project. Embedded within the microcontroller is
a program that helps the microcontroller to take action based on the inputs
provided by the output of the sensors.
Ultrasonic sensor is utilized to find the obstacle and distance of any
object from the blind people. Here we are using three ultrasonic sensors to
detecting the object in front, left and right side of the person. When the
objects are detected by any ultrasonic sensor, vibration is produced using the
DC motor. Voice output will produce like which side object is detected.
RFID tags will be place at different places and indicates names of
different places. RFID reader is used to detect those places. When blind
person come near to the particular tag, corresponding name voice output will
produce to inform the blind people. In this project, LCD is also utilized in
order to show the working of every unit.

ADVANTAGES:

 It helps blind people to navigate through the surroundings without

injuring themselves.
 The system can be used both indoor and outdoor navigation

APPLICATION

 This application can also be utilized in automobile fields.

Future Scope

With the ongoing changes taking place in today’s technology the entire unit
can be made into a simple and compact device. Flexible solar power
developed on a plastic strip can be attached to the unit as the source of
power supply.

Reference
 Java – P B kotur.
 http://developer.android.com/index.html
 http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/03/an-android-
app-that-can-help-aged-people-learn-mathematics/254260/
 http://www.imedicalapps.com/2014/11/mobile-apps-colorblrriness-
gene-therapy/