Design and prototype of an electronic baton for an inte-

rior guidance system for the blind.

Arnaldo A. González1, 2, Yesid Diaz1, 3 y Wilson Florez1, 4
1
Corporación Unificada Nacional de Educación Superior CUN, Bogotá, Colombia
2 arnaldogonzalez@gmail.com, 3yesid_diaz@cun.edu.co y
4wilson_florez@cun.edu.co

Resumen. This article presents a proposal for the design of an electronic cane as
a technological solution that addresses the problem of guiding a blind person in
a closed area, by implementing a guidance system in closed spaces for people
with visual disabilities [1 ], which consists of a series of guide lines and infor-
mation points that can be perceived by the electronic stick, it can be connected
wirelessly to a mobile device with an Android application. In Figure 2, you can
see the number of people benefiting from the use of inclusive technologies and
the reasons for use included in the quantitative data; note that 65% of visually
impaired people use accessible technologies for their ease of use when perform-
ing specific or communal tasks.

Keywords: Visual Disability, Mobile Application, Guide Line, Electronic Cane

Fig. 1. Diagram of The Electronic Guide System in Closed Spaces 1, shows a diagram of the
elements that make up the guidance system in closed spaces for people with visual disabilities,
consisting of a series of guidelines and information points (bar codes) which they can be per-
ceived by an intelligent electronic cane connected wirelessly to a mobile device with an app
that provides audible information to guide the user.
2

Accessible technologies

Work environment
80%
60%
40%
Health
Easy to use 20%
0%

Convenience of use Comfort of use

Fig. 2. Evaluation in quantitative criteria of the use of accessible technologies used by people
with visual disability and their purpose of use [1].

1 Introduction

The difficulty to move with autonomy and independence is one of the most common
obstacles for people suffering from a visual disability, a situation that in addition to
affecting their mobility, can make them face emotional problems, as well as work and
social.
This article provides information on an innovative, effective and economical solu-
tion to the problems described above; the present development refers to an indoor guid-
ance system for blind people who use an electronic cane, a smartphone, guidance lines,
and information points in the form of a bar code, allowing them to fulfill the objective
of guiding the person in a constant manner to his destiny; Inside the handle of the elec-
tronic stick is the electronics, mainly composed of a battery charging circuit, a recharge-
able battery, a microcontroller, a wireless communication module and an infrared light
sensor inside the protective contact tip [2][3].

2 Problem Description

According to the "Analysis of Situation of Visual Health in Colombia 2016 Agreement

519 of 2015", of the Ministry of Health, in Colombia, it is estimated that there are 7,000
blind Colombians per million (296,000 blind throughout the territory) the development
of an electronic stick is related to some of the aids that people with visual impairments
use to walk, replacing direct visual perception with another type of perception, in this
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case an audible persistence that can be heard through spoken messages using a mobile
phone wirelessly linked to the electronic stick, classifying this technology within the
category of electronics and human needs, understood as first level for this type of dis-
abled population.
The blindness is a physical-sensory type disability; This limits the capacity of af-
fected people to carry out activities of daily life and deteriorates their quality of life. It
is usual for people with blindness to resort to alternative means of support to travel,
such as the use of technical or auxiliary tools, among the most used are mobility poles
and guide dogs, these tools provide solutions on the environment of the individual ba-
sically and in which it is intended to solve the problem of taking the individual from
one place to another using tools such as GPS, where the precision of the devices that
use this technology limits its use to outdoor, However, these are insufficient while it
remains the problem of guiding the person who suffers from visual impairment, are not
resolved with traditional aids, especially considering that the accuracy [4] of GPS tech-
nology for civil applications is approximately 3 meters, so it is impossible to guide
people with visual impairment indoors, the problem continues to exist because of the
In the art of technology there is no solution to this problem [5].
The following graph shows the factors that influence as barriers in visual disability,
measured on a scale from 0 to 5 where 5 is the highest level of importance. The use of
this technology is based on the accessibility problems that a person with a visual disa-
bility presents when moving about an enclosed space, the ease with which they can
manipulate the smart cane shown in Figure 2, which is an inclusive technology of easy
management and having and that corrects accessibility problems (see Figure 3) this
technology becomes a first level need for people with visual disabilities.

Barriers to visual impairment

3,7 4
2,7 3 3

Absence of Scarcity of Accessibility

Absence in economic aid information Lack of problems
technical aids accessibility in
social
environments

Fig. 3. Quantitative measurement of the degree of importance of the barriers that appear in a
person with visual disability weighted on a scale of 0 to 5 [1].
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3 Design and Modeling

Next, a description of the proposed solution is made, according to Figure 1, illustrating

the main components that make up the guidance system in closed spaces for people
with visual impairment, consisting of a series of guidelines (42) that create a network
of roads to the different destinations within the enclosure; at the beginning, end, at the
intersection points and intersections of this road network, there are information points
(43) (bar codes) which can be perceived through an optical sensor (16) on the electronic
cane (1) connected wirelessly to a mobile device (41) with an Android Guidance appli-
cation that provides audible information to the user [5].

Fig. 4. Intelligent Station, on the left shows a diagonal lower right side view of the device of
the invention, showing its main components separated to provide information on the construc-
tion thereof. On the right, it shows a diagonal upper left side view of the device of the inven-
tion, showing its main components separated to provide information on the construction
thereof.

In Figure 2, there is the electronic cane (1), composed of an aluminum cylinder (5),
which is inserted at one of its ends, in the protective contact cover (2), inside the this is
located the Infrared sensor (16) positioned at a maximum height of 5mm, this distance
has as justification the proper functioning of the sensor, plus a sphere (10) that facili-
tates the movement with the cane, this sphere (10) it is self-contained in the protective
contact tip (2) that surrounds 66.6% of the volume thereof, allowing it to rotate freely
in all directions, remaining contained in the protective contact tip (2); at the opposite
end of the aluminum cylinder (5) the electronic handle (3) is connected, which is joined
to the handle cover (4), and the connection is secured with the insertion of the coupling
 5

screws (22) , forming inside the handle three cavities, in which there are (see figure 2.)
the load control system (8) which communicates to the outside through a slot, which
allows access to the micro connector -USB of the load control system (8), which con-
nects with the rechargeable battery or FEM (7) just between the charging system (8)
and the electronic control circuit (6) located in the compartment following the EMF (7),
this arrangement allows to connect both circuits to the FEM (7) easily using the least
amount of wiring and allowing to contain the different electronic components inside
the handle of the cane, which allows the size of the handle of the cane to be one size
and for it is comfortable for users.
In Figure 3 we can see the electronics that are part of the device, where is the charg-
ing system (8) which is composed of an integrated load management module (reference
TP4056), it is also composed of a sensor infrared light (16) (reference QRD1114),
which detects the guidance lines (42) and the information points (43), in the electronic
control circuit (6) there is a microcontroller (reference Atmega 328P-MU ) and the
wireless connection module (reference HC-05) which allows communication between
the microcontroller and the mobile device containing the guidance application.
In order for the device to work, it is necessary to implement the method as a program
inside the microcontroller and in the mobile application [5], Figure 4 shows the block
diagram showing to connect the electronic device embedded in the electronic cane with
a power supply that integrates radio-frequency wireless connection in the ISM band.
The person with a visual disability is guided reception of the messages sent from the
stick through the microcontroller, which in turn, processes the data acquired by the
infrared light sensor located in the contact protective cover of the Smart Staff. You can
use an APP for transcribing these messages that come from the microcontroller via
wireless and are translated into audible messages, which are easily interpreted by peo-
ple with visual disabilities, this method is known as Text to Speech [6].

Fig. 6. Intelligent Cane Block Diagram, the block diagram of the smart pole is presented, the
power and signal connections of the signal coming from the IR sensor are shown [6].
6

4 Calculations and technical considerations

The power consumed by the modules that make up the system are listed below:

Table 1. Current consumption of the modules that make up the electronics of the device.

Device Voltage Current

TP4056 5V 150 µA

QRD1114 5V 20mA

Atmega 328P-MU 5V 105mA

HC-05 5V 50 mA

4.1 Calculation of total power consumed by the system

The system generates a load for its operation that depends on the current or power re-
quired by each of the elements of the system, of which we have that the current required
by the system is:

𝐼𝑇 = 𝐼𝑇𝑃4056 + 𝐼𝑄𝑅𝐷1114 + 𝐼𝐴𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑔𝑎 328𝑃−𝑀𝑈 + 𝐼𝐻𝐶−05 (1)

𝐼𝑇𝑂𝑇𝐴𝐿 = 175.15𝑚𝐴 (2)

4.2 Calculation of system autonomy

Knowing the current consumed by the device we can estimate the autonomy, taking
into account that to maximize the useful life of the battery, we should prevent it from
discharging below 50% of its maximum capacity, we will then take that the battery can
only supply half of its capacity, that is to say 1300mAh, therefore carrying out the re-
spective calculations:
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50%(Capacidad de la FEM)
𝐴𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 (𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠) =
𝐼𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
(3)

𝐴𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 (𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠) = 7.42 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 (4)

Then figure 6, shows the graphs where the frequency of cane or movement of the cane
is analyzed from one side to another vs. the distance of different users, from the same
we can infer that there is no pattern or correlation that allows us to generate some type
of sampling frequency, because it is not possible to predict the speed with which the
user performed the sweep with the cane since each user could perform the sweep at a
different speed when using the cane and even the same user could change the Sweeping
speed during the travel any attempt to calculate the average of said sweep and use that
average to try to read the bar code would result in incorrect readings, therefore when
reading the information points coded as barcode the number of flanks of rise and fall of
the signal emitted by the optical sensor, then generates information points with different
number of bars to identify the site in which the user is in addition to that they are built
with a mirror effect which will give the same reading whether read from right to left or
vice versa.
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Frecuency Vs. Frecuency Vs.

Distance Distance
20 20
Frecuency (Hz)

Frecuency (Hz)
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0
0 2 4 6 0 2 4 6
Distance (m) Distance (m)

Frequency Vs. Frecuency Vs.

Distance 20
Distance
Frecuency (Hz)

15 15
Frecuency (Hz)

10 10

5 5
0
0
0 2 4 6
0 2 4
Distance (m)
Distance (m)

Fig. 8. Graph of Frequency Vs Distance, shows the graph where the frequency of cane movement
or of movement of the cane from one side to another vs the distance of different users is analyzed.

Fig. 7. Diagram of Barcode and Up and Down Flashes, the diagram of a barcode and the rising
and falling flanks, notes that the reading of the flanks would be the same if the sensor traversed
the barcode from right to left or from left to right.

5 Tests and data collected

The tests are carried out when the person with visual impairment first uses the proposed
system after training in the use of the same, testing the system during four attempts of
 9

displacement, the tracings were made in such a way that there are no obstacles in the
road, then the blind man travels the road. With the help of a person to contrast, the times
in the routes of the same, the summary of the acquired data is in table 2.

Table 2. Summary of the average of the data acquired in the time measurements of the routes
using the guidance system in closed spaces and without using the system, but with the assis-
tance of a person

Proof # Provenance Arrival Time Method Distance

3 elevator bathroom 13.40s With cane 7.50m

4 bathroom elevator 12.22s With cane 7.50m

2 bathroom office 44.10s With cane 25.50m

1 office elevator 58.30s With cane 25.50m

7 elevator bathroom 6.11s Human Assistance 7.50m

8 bathroom Ascensor 6.13s Human Assistance 7.50m

6 elevator oficina 26.51 Human Assisteance 25.50m

5 office elevator 27.30 Human Assistance 25.50m

As shown in Table 2 the user completes his journey, although the travel time is longer
compared to humanitarian assistance, the user completes his way effectively, the pre-
sent electronic solution helps guide in a closed enclosure autonomously a person with
visual disability in a precise and constant way along the route. As can be seen in Table
2, human assistance is more effective, however, the use of the smart cane gives it a high
degree of autonomy and this last item is considered as more important (see Table 3).
As the user becomes familiar with the use of the tool to support his movements
within the enclosed space, he felt comfortable and confident that he could take it to his
destination in an autonomous and safe way.

Table 3. Levels of qualitative measurement in activities that require autonomy in people with
visual impairment.

Variables involved in autonomy Level of importance (Qualitative)

Physical Health High
Functional skills Medium
State of mind High
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Motivations and interests Medium

daily activities Very High

The activities mentioned in Table 3 are linked to the level of satisfaction of independ-
ence or autonomy in daily routines and the health status of people with visual impair-
ment when these activities are carried out independently[7]. Between the daily routines
are the displacements of a place to another one and in closed enclosures using human
assistance, guide dogs and the traditional white cane, that depend on the economy and
the training in rehabilitation centers, the smart cane provides the levels of autonomy
necessary for the displacement in enclosures of efficient way without considering the
time used, since the level of autonomy in this case is much more important (see Table
3).

6 Conclusions and future work

Calculating the autonomy of the electronic cane shows that it has a capacity of 7.42
hours of continuous use, so we can conclude that the autonomy of the device provides
more than enough time to perform the routes required by the user to perform in the
enclosure where use From the analysis the graphs of frequency of cambering vs. dis-
tance, it is evident that the frequency of cambering can change according to the user or
the distance, it can tend to an average value depending on the user, but this can change
at any time, therefore, can conclude that, if readings are generated based on the fre-
quency of banding, it would lead to errors. When analyzing table 2 we can see that the
travel times assisted by a person are less than using the cane, but it can also be seen that
as the tests progressed and the user became familiar with the use of the system, their
trips took each timeless time. The system provides a solution to the problem of guiding
a person in a state of visual disability to a location in an enclosed space in an autono-
mous and safe way, with a light, minimalist and low-cost design, with the minimum of
differences with respect to the traditional canes.
At the level of future improvements, the integration of an ultrasound module for the
detection of obstacles is recommended, something that would contribute to the safety
of the trips and the user's confidence. To avoid the constant use of Talkback, the appli-
cation on the mobile device could have the ability to implement the voice command
service, to facilitate user use.

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