ECE.15R – Smart Cane Stick

• Ikraam Khan
• Misbah Mohammed
• Afifa Nadeem
• Saba Nemsadze

According to the procured data from World Health Organization and National Federation of the Blind, there are around 253 million people who are visually impaired out of which 36 million people are blind worldwide. According to a survey conducted by a Non Governmental Organization, 98% of blind people have accidents while crossing the street. Traditionally, blind people use conventional cane sticks to guide themselves by touching/poking obstacles in their way but oftentimes, they miss those obstacles especially while crossing roads which is dangerous for them and lead them in traffic accidents. To address this issue, our group decided to come up with a solution utilizing sensor based technology. Although solutions exist on the market to aid blind people in walking and performing their daily routine tasks, many of these products are expensive and fail to detect obstacles that are in an angled position, and many who do have access to those still get in accidents due to collisions. Our user needs a low-cost device that can detect obstacles from any angle, direction, and alert them with sound if they are in range (3 cm to 90 cm) of obstacles. Our smart cane stick is able to detect any solid object that comes in contact with blind people while they are walking that are within 3 cm to 90 cm range of the user, and alert the user immediately. This system is well suitable for harsh and moist environments; indoors and outdoors.