Smart Walking Stick Research Articles

Smart Stick Revolutionizes Mobility for the Visually Impaired

Visual impairment significantly hinders daily activities, necessitating innovative solutions. This study develops and tests a smart walking stick using NodeMCU ESP-8266, HCSR-04 ultrasonic sensor, DFPlayer, and GPS, monitored via the Blynk app. Employing a research and development approach, the device demonstrated 100% accuracy in obstacle detection and location tracking, providing real-time feedback through audio notifications and smartphone monitoring. This smart walking stick enhances mobility and safety for visually impaired users, representing a significant advancement in assistive technology. Highlights: Accurate Obstacle Detection: 100% accuracy with HCSR-04 ultrasonic sensor. Real-time Monitoring: GPS tracking via Blynk app. Enhanced Mobility: Increases safety and independence for visually impaired users. Keywords: Visual impairment, Smart walking stick, Ultrasonic sensor, GPS tracking, IoT

Navigation Tool for Visually Impaired Hurdle Recognition using Image Processing and IoT

A device made to help visually challenged people navigate their surroundings using image processing and the Internet of Things. Traditional walking aids are ineffective at detecting impediments, making it challenging for blind people to move around on their own. Obstacles are identified by the smart walking stick's camera and ultrasonic sensor, which also calculate the user's distance from the object. A sound is produced in the user's headphones when an obstruction is identified, alerting them to the obstacle. For visually impaired people who might need assistance navigating their environment, this technology is a useful aid. The stick has a camera that takes pictures of the surrounding area. These pictures are subsequently analyzed using image processing algorithms to find barriers and other important details. The stick is also linked to the Internet of Things (IoT), which enables it to interact with other devices and offer further functionality.

Use of Arduino and Ultrasonic Sensors to Design Smart Walking Stick for Visually Impaired People

-This paper suggests a smart blind stick that detects obstacle in front of a blind man on street. Arduino and ultrasonic sensor is used to detect the depth below or obstacles in between LED, Buzzer,9V Battery, Jumper wires, a stick. As per the statistics of World Health Organisation (WHO), currently there are 45 million blind people all around the globe. The visually impaired people are very much dependent on external assistance such as humans, trained dogs, or special electronic devices as decision making support systems. Thus, developing a smart stick may overcome these limitations. Ultrasonic sensor is being incorporated at specific position of cane to provide information regarding the environment with the help of buzzer sound. The proposed system is low cost and light weight designed with the help of microcontroller to processes signal and alerts for the visually impaired person over any obstacle, water or dark areas through beeping sounds Obstacle and moisture detection sensors are used for receiving, processing and sending signals to the alarm system and finally alert the user for prompt action. The system was designed, programmed using C language and tested for accuracy and can detect obstacles within the distance of about 2m from the user. Key Words: Arduino UNO, Ultrasonic sensor, Walking stick, Visually Impaired, RF Receiver.

ASSISTIVE WALKING STICK FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED

This paper presents the smart walking cane based on ultrasonic sensors, Arduino UNO and concepts of Machine Learning and CNN for visually impaired people. There are approximately 37 million people across the globe who are blind according to the World Health Organization (WHO). People with visual disabilities are often dependent on external assistance which can be provided by Humans, trained dogs, or special aid devices. Thus we are motivated to develop a smart walking stick which not only detects object but also detect the floor, surrounding along with collision detection and raises an alarm in case of any mishap. The system was designed, programmed using C language and tested for accuracy. Our devise can detect objects within 5m of distance

Navigating the future of walking aids - Septor, a smart walking stick

The field of mobility assistance devices has evolved significantly in recent years, with technology playing a pivotal role in enhancing the lives of individuals with mobility challenges. This paper explores the future of walking aids, focusing on Septor, a smart walking stick that is an innovative assistive device designed to enhance the mobility and safety of individuals with mobility impairments. This advanced walking aid incorporates cutting-edge technologies and features to provide a holistic solution for users, improving their overall quality of life. The Septor operates based on echolocation technology. One of the key features of Septor is its smartphone connectivity. The walking stick can be synchronized with a dedicated mobile application, enabling users to monitor their walking patterns, receive personalized exercise recommendations, and track their progress over time. The app also facilitates communication with healthcare professionals for remote consultations and adjustments. A lot of research is being done to find ways to enhance the lives of visually challenged individuals. Multiple walking sticks and systems aid users in moving around indoor and outdoor locations, but none of them offer object detection and identification alerts. The Septor employs ultrasonic sensors to echo sound waves and detect objects. This paper discusses Septor, a groundbreaking smart walking stick that revolutionizes the mobility aid industry by promoting user safety, independence, and convenience. This innovative device aims to improve the lives of individuals with mobility challenges and provide a valuable tool for healthcare professionals in the rehabilitation process.

A Smart Walking Stick for Elderly People – Part 2 : Design Configuration, Technical Analysis and Prototyping

This paper is the second of two, which focuses on the use of walking sticks as the mobility aid tools that are used by the elderly or people with mobility limitations to maintain their balance and stability while they carry out their daily activities, enabling them to live a life of independence. With the advancement of technology, a modern walking sticks can be found aplenty on commercial platforms. However, choosing a suitable walking tool may not be easy. Ease of function, specific features and value for money are among important factors that influence potential users in choosing their walking aid. For this project, a Smart Walking Stick is developed. It is equipped with an auto fall alarm sensor and a Global Positioning System (GPS) is used to detect the location and later, send notifications to closely related people via mobile devices in the event of an emergency. This newly developed Smart Walking Stick aims to be a device that can improve mobility and accessibility. Notably, this device is also developed with the desire to contribute to Malaysia’s IR4.0 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) ambitions, specifically in helping people with physical difficulties that may have barriers to mobility. Along with the development of digitalization, this innovation also links the user with the Internet of Things (IoT) to increase their safety. This paper covers detail on design configurations and technical analysis conducted on the prototype, while the first paper highlights the results and outputs from the market survey and concept generation.

A Smart Walking Stick for Elderly People – PART 1 : Market Survey and Concept Generation

This paper is the first of two, which focuses on the use of walking sticks as the mobility aid tools that are used by the elderly or people with mobility limitations to maintain their balance and stability while they carry out their daily activities, enabling them to live a life of independence. With the advancement of technology, a modern walking sticks can be found aplenty on commercial platforms. However, choosing a suitable walking tool may not be easy. Ease of function, specific features and value for money are among important factors that influence potential users in choosing their walking aid. For this project, a Smart Walking Stick is developed. It is equipped with an auto fall alarm sensor and a Global Positioning System (GPS) is used to detect the location and later, send notifications to closely related people via mobile devices in the event of an emergency. This newly developed Smart Walking Stick aims to be a device that can improve mobility and accessibility. Notably, this device is also developed with the desire to contribute to Malaysia’s IR4.0 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) ambitions, specifically in helping people with physical difficulties that may have barriers to mobility. Along with the development of digitalization, this innovation also links the user with the Internet of Things (IoT) to increase their safety. This paper covers detailed results from the market survey conducted and concept generation for a novel walking stick. The second paper covers comprehensive design configuration and technical analysis that was performed on the prototype.

SMART CANE WITH VITAL MONITORING AND LOCATION TRACKING

Assistive IoT technologies are powerful tools to increase independence and improve participation. Real-time Falls are currently a leading cause of death from injury in the elderly. The usage of conventional assistive cane is critical in reducing the risk of falls and is relied upon by many elderly patients. But the conventional cane does not prove any additional assistance other than physical support. In the past few decades, the technology boom has unleashed an enormous potential to explore and implement various assistive devices for the elderly to lead their life independently. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a prototype which would serve as an efficient aid for the elderly. This stick is embedded with various features making it a Smart walking stick. This walking stick can monitor various health parameters and informs the nearby primary health center and caretaker of any abnormalities. This smart stick can also help elder persons to reach home safely if they lost themselves when go out alone. We propose a system in which we integrate a vital monitoring system which continuously monitor the vitals of the elderly person and warns if the values are off by a significant amount. The proposed system also provides a convenient way for location. The cane is also fitted with an emergency button which when pressed triggers a loud alarm indicating that the elderly person is in danger. This stick is tested to verify the functionality of all features and this would be very useful for elders to restore their confidence and increase mobility when compared to the conventional sticks available in the market only for walking.

Cognitive IoT Vision System Using Weighted Guided Harris Corner Feature Detector for Visually Impaired People

India has an estimated 12 million visually impaired people and is home to the world’s largest number in any country. Smart walking stick devices use various technologies including machine vision and different sensors for improving the safe movement of visually impaired persons. In machine vision, accurately recognizing an object that is near to them is still a challenging task. This paper provides a system to enable safe navigation and guidance for visually impaired people by implementing an object recognition module in the smart walking stick that uses a local feature extraction method to recognize an object under different image transformations. To provide stability and robustness, the Weighted Guided Harris Corner Feature Detector (WGHCFD) method is proposed to extract feature points from the image. WGHCFD discriminates image features competently and is suitable for different real-world conditions. The WGHCFD method evaluates the most popular Oxford benchmark datasets, and it achieves greater repeatability and matching score than existing feature detectors. In addition, the proposed WGHCFD method is tested with a smart stick and achieves 99.8% recognition rate under different transformation conditions for the safe navigation of visually impaired people.

Elder Assist - An IoT Based Fall Detection System

With the ever-growing population, there is an urgent need for the development of fall detection systems that can help individuals in falling which is one of the most damaging events elderly people may experience. Thanks to the rapid development of sensors and the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), human-computer interaction using sensor fusion has been considered an efficient method to deal with the problem of fall detection and can help in aiding immediately. In this paper, we discuss about a solution to this problem by proposing an IoT based device which can be implemented on a walking stick which is used by elderly people. This device is made using sensor networks and IoT. The development of technology requires the innovation of a device that can be used to help the blind & senior citizen as a road guide. The project describes walking stick. Senior citizen & blind people must ask guidance to reach their destination. They must face more struggles in their life daily life. Using this stick, a person can walk more confidently. This stick detects the object in front of the stick and gives response to the user. So, the person can walk without any fear. This system will be best solution to overcome their difficulties. We are going to upgrade the project by increasing its application. In this project, we are going to use ultrasonic sensor to sense any obstacle. The smart walking stick helps people to perform navigation and to do their work easily and comfortably. In smart walking stick, the object is detected with the help of ultrasonic sensor which detects the distance between object and the stick. If any obstacle comes in front of stick, he/she can know about the obstacle by indication.

A Smart Walking Stick for Gait Analysis of Elderly and People With Disabilities

Human gait analysis is of considerable significance in the assessment of a user’s movement status, abnormality warning and rehabilitation training. In this study, a smart walking stick (SWS) system is developed based on a single 9-axis attitude sensor for gait analysis of the elderly, people with disabilities, and other relevant users. The attitude of the SWS is solved by constructing an error vector of gravitational acceleration as an input to the angular velocity PID algorithm correction. An extended Kalman filter algorithm is used to make an optimal state estimate of the Euler angle. On the basis of such means, a threshold-based approach is adopted to binarize the angle of the SWS and divide the gait cycle, so as to combine the acceleration of the user’s movement and obtain information about the user’s gait, including the number of steps, stride duration, step length and step speed. The experimental results reveal that the accuracy of the number of steps can reach 100%, and the average error of stride duration, step length and step speed are 0.01±0.07s, -0.72±5.22cm and 0.75±3.74cm/s, respectively, with an average accuracy of 96.43%, 95.20% and 94.45%, respectively.

Design and development of a smart blind walking stick using machine learning

Visually impaired people are often subjugated under extreme circumstances even in their day-to-day life. The daily requirements of a common man appear to be an impediment in their routine life. Simplest of tasks like walking, eating, bathing, conversing and even eating is of utmost difficulty to them. Moreover, with such difficulties their only way-out seems to be dependency on the privileged lot, which further diminishes their confidence in themselves and gradually makes them even more dependent. The conventional devices that are used by visually impaired people include basic walking sticks which fail at the job in hand by not providing adequate stabilisation on rough surfaces and misguiding the users into unfavourable conditions. There is no way for the person to know what the object in front of them is without hitting it with the stick, which could also lead to accidents. To solve these problems, a smart walking stick is developed which not only recognises the object in front of it using Machine Learning (ML) models, but also gives a voice output to alert its user about the particular object thereby limiting the chance of any and all accidents. The concept is realised in hardware and integrated to the walking stick. This helps in stabilisation of phone and to produce better results in object identification. Further an application is developed to alert the user by converting the obtained image into a voice messages.

Development of e-stick for blind persons using IoT

Blind and disabled people suffer a loT to reach their destination, and there are many dangerous risks that disabled people must face. To avoid the inconvenience while walking, a smart electronic walking stick was proposed. This paper proposes a low-cost walking stick based on the latest technology, and a new implementation is intended to effectively interface with the blind. Basically, an ultrasonic sensor is implemented in a walking stick to detect obstacles in front of the blind or handicapped. If there is any obstacle, it will warn the blind person to avoid that obstacle and alert them in the form of a voice announcement. Every day in different ways to ensure people's flexible and safe movement. In this technology-driven world where people strive to live independently, this paper provides an inexpensive 3D ultrasonic stick for the blind to gain personal independence so the disabled can move from one place to another easily and safely. A portable stick is being designed and developed that detects the obstacles in the path of the blind using ultrasonic sensors. The voice alert is activated when any obstacle is detected. In addition, the flash drive is equipped with a system of Short Message Service (SMS) messages. The SMS system is used by the blind to send SMS messages to the numbers stored in the microcontroller in case of an emergency. This system has been successfully programmed with a voice announcement. Computer simulations are performed to evaluate system performance using Proteus software.

Smart Walking Stick with Fall detector

Abstract: There are many aged people in our surrounding. They can’t walk without the help of other people of the society. One has to ask guidance to reach their destination. They have to face more struggles in their daily life. Today technology is growing to a greater extent, however there is no cost-effective device for aged people. The history of walking stick can be traced far back when the simple wooden stick was used by human for support. James Biggs of Bristol claims to have invented the walking stick in the year 1921. For an aged person it becomes difficult to do his/her day-to-day activities, therefore Smart walking stick can help people in moving and allowing them to perform their work easily, during walking in the street, which makes it very dangerous. GPS is used which tells the user about his current location. Keywords: Fall detector, Stick, GPS, GSM Module, LDR sensor, Torch.

Smart Walking Stick for Blind People

Human beings are having five basic senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. When an object comes in contact with any sensing organ an information signal is sent to the brain. The brain processes the signal and helps us to understand and perceive our surroundings. Sight is very important of the five senses. Low vision or blindness has a long lasting effect on all aspects of an individual’s life. Visually impaired person find it difficult detecting obstacles in front of them, during walking within the road, which makes it dangerous. The smart stick is a proposed solution to help enable them to identify the world around. In this paper we propose an answer, represented during a smart persist with infrared sensor to detect stair-cases and pair of ultrasonic sensors to detect the other obstacles in front of the user. Moreover, a sensor at the bottom of the stick is provided for the sake of avoiding puddles. The smart stick will be of low cost, fast response, low power consumption and light weight.

Performance Analysis of Smart Stick Designed for Visually Impaired People Using GSM and GPS

Visual impairment burdens the people heavily in today’s fast-moving culture. Although there are several measures for this impairment, many people skip such chances in fear of their economic condition. In view of helping those people, a sophisticated stick is designed using sensors like ultrasonic sensor, IR sensor and Arduino ICs. Electronically designed walking stick helps to trace the locations using GPS module and to avoid collisions through detection of objects at a certain range of distance from the person in all directions. Sensor placed beneath the bottom of the stick enables the identification of pits/hindrances on the ground. The visually impaired person will be alerted with a voice message generated using the voice recorder which records the response of all the sensors operating in different tracks. In this paper, GSM and sensors together have initiated the role of smart walking stick in the life of several human kinds.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BASED SMART WALKING STICK

This paper shows the Smart Walking Stick based on Ultrasonic sensors and Arduino for Visually Impaired.There are roughly 37 million individuals over the globe who are visually impaired as indicated by the World Health Organization. Individuals with visual inabilities are regularly subjected to outer help which can be given by people, trained dogs or electronic gadgets for basic assistance. We proposed least effort and light weight structured with microcontroller that processes signal and alerts the visually impaired person over any obstacle, water through beeping sounds or vibrations. The system comprises of ultrasonic and infrared sensors for process of receiving, processing and sending signals to the alarm system which finally alerts the user for action. The system will revolutionize the lives of the blind people. The main objective is to provide more mobility and independency to blind people.

Development of a smart walking stick for visually impaired people

One of the major issue faced by blind people are moving from one place to another. Also they get stress while walking along bad conditions of the road. All the time, they are alerted by others to avoid obstacles, staircases and wet terrain. This paper addresses the above issues of blind people with the intervention of technology. Also proffer the development of an electronic stick for blind person to assist them gain self-sufficiency. In the proposed model, an electronic stick was consolidated with an ultrasonic transducer, water circuit and RF transmitter and receiver module. The ultrasonic sensor will sense the obstacle within the span and notify the blind person with the help of buzzer. The water circuit when acquire with the water, it get short circuited and make buzzer to sound. Also, provides a way to find the misplaced stick in indoor. When the person presses the button in the remote, the stick will notify the blind person to realize the stick. Since this is simple, economical and not substantial, one can hold it easily. The prototype model was implemented and the entire setup functions were controlled by using the Arduino ATMEGA 328-PU microcontroller.

CICERONE- A Real Time Object Detection for Visually Impaired People

Our work provides a solution to people who are suffering from partial blindness due to diseases of the eye or due to accidents. Unlike people who are born blind, they depend a lot on other people for doing their day to day activities. Our project is a boon to such people as our end product; a smart walking stick detects the trained objects that are used daily by the person and intimates the person using audio messages. This project changes the visual world into an audio world by informing the visually impaired of the objects in their environment. These people can use this particular prototype for self -navigating their way. A YOLO (You look only once) algorithm is used in our project. Real-time objects in an image are detected with their names represented on a bounding box and these names are converted to speech signals. The conversion to audio signals is done by using an e-Speak tool which forms Googles Text to Speech (gTTS) system. The prototype consists of several modules. The Raspberry Pi camera module takes the image and transfers it to the Raspberry Pi desktop. Then, real-time object detection is carried out by using YOLO network. The detected image is converted to speech by using the gTTS module and the audio result is provided to the user through a headset. For achieving the required portability, the battery backup is being used.

Smart Walking Stick for Blind Integrated with SOS Navigation System

Smart Walking Stick for Blind Integrated with SOS Navigation System