EchoSense

Navigating Tomorrow with Today's Technology

Comment

Inspiration

The inspiration behind EchoSense stemmed from a collective desire to enhance the lives of the visually impaired community. Witnessing their daily challenges ignited a passion to develop an innovative solution that would empower independence and safety.

What it does

This technology empowers the visually impaired by detecting obstacles in real-time. This is important especially since traditional white canes have blind spots which do not allow the user to detect objects from the knees above. Our product uses a secondary ultrasonic sensor to detect such collisions, which is coupled with a personalized app that considers individual height and calculates when it should notify the user of incoming collisions (the app component did not end up working, but the cane was still functional without it).

How we built it

We used Android Studio as our ide and then Java as the programming language. We then used Raspberry Pi to code two ultrasonic sensors using Python and got the hardware and the server working.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into many challenges during the production of EchoSense which almost made us abandon the project. One of the main challenges we ran into is to get the audio to work whenever it detects an object coming nearby. The other challenge was to get the app to connect with the Raspberry Pi, which worked, but still could not send information properly at the end. Finally, the biggest challenge that took the longest to overcome was the Raspberry Pi OS to work with the modules.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we were able to create a product that has a positive impact on the world. We are also proud that we were able to use networking skills and make a mobile app that communicates with the Pi.

What we learned

Throughout this journey, we learned the value of collaboration, persistence, and empathy-driven design. Overcoming technical hurdles and refining our solution taught us the importance of holistic thinking and the profound impact of technology on accessibility.

What's next for EchoSense

Our goal for EchoSense goes beyond the present. It would be nice to bring this innovative project to life by developing functional prototypes. Moreover, we can enhance the user experience by adding GPS functionality. In our future versions, the integration of vibrational signals will mark a significant step forward in providing an all-inclusive solution for the visually impaired community.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates