Sonic Navigation and Object Recognition Environment

Inspiration

We wanted to help a group often overlooked by society-- the blind.

What it does

Helps the visually impaired regain their independence by providing them with tactile feedback to avoid obstacles and text-to-speech which describes the surrounding world.

How we built it

• AlwaysAI to implement object recognition
• Arduino Uno to control proximity sensors and tactile feedback
• Raspberry Pi to communicate recognized objects to user via speech synthesis
• Laser cutting to custom design a frame

Challenges we ran into

• Working around the poor range and precision of ultrasonic proximity detectors
• Powering the multitude of servos and sensors
• Setbacks when trying to integrate text-to-speech library with AlwaysAI
• Not enough computational power on Raspberry Pi to utilize AlwaysAI

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Designing a portable power supply to support multiple servos, sensors and an Arduino
• Custom designing a flexible, adaptable frame to support the electronics

What we learned

• How to work under high-pressure deadlines
• Integrate sensors and peripherals with Raspberry Pi and Arduino

What's next for Sonic Navigation and Object Recognition

• Making the design more compact, discreet, and lightweight