Enhanced navigation system for the visually impaired
Our team of freshman engineers researched, designed and developed a modular system which can be attached to an existing white cane. The system allows users to increase their ability to navigate their environment quickly and switly. The project consisted of placing an ultrasonic sensor at the base of the cane, and wiring it to a vibrating motor on the handle of the cane which gives the user tactile feedback before coming into contact with hazardous obstacles.
My contribution within the team
Pictured left is a close up of the arduino mini circuit board which the team chose to work with for
its miniture size of 25x10mm. I was responsible for the soldering work. Which included
soldering wires to the board, splitting and resoldering wires together becasue there weren't enough GND
ports, and wiring the circuit through a transistor, a resistor and a switch.
Most of the issues came from transfering our circuit from the generic, full sized arduino to the smaller
arduino nano. The first issue was that we had 9v running into the board and straight to the vibrating
motor which could only run off of 5v, so we added a 5v regulator. The second issue, wass resolved with a
transistor which amplified our signal from the ultrasonic sensor to the motor. Finally we added in a switch
for ease of use, the switch allowed the user to turn off the circuit without having to take out the battery
or even opening the components box.
To the right you can see one of the two 3D models I designed through the Fusion360 design software. Through
this product design I got to work with a variety of components and having to design one around the lid. For
example, the lid had to fit tightly within the box and also be able to be screwed in to secure the components
box semi-permanently.