The Problem
We realized that many visually impaired people were using canes to gain a sense of their surroundings. This, however, is very dangerous and puts the person in a very precarious position. To change this, we created Ultra-Cane, which replaces the danger with security. The sound emitted and the distance measurements given could be used to solve the problem that all visually impaired people face. One does not have to fear injury every time they go outside anymore.
Describe your story
We coded and built a circuit that utilized a servo motor, buzzer, button, and joystick. The ultrasonic sensor sensed the distance between the circuit board and the object it was pointed at, with a maximum range of 4 meters. We calculated the distance by using the time it took to send out and receive a wave. This distance was used in a repeating segment of program that changed the pitch of the buzzer and the amount of times it repeated per second. The closer one gets to a wall, the higher pitched and the more rapidly the circuit emits a sound. Additionally, the direction of the ultrasonic sensor can be changed with a joystick. The ultrasonic sensor was attached to a motor that turned, and there were two modes that could be toggled between. One mode had manual input with the joystick, while the other continuously turned the motor.
How I built it
We created a circuit that utilized a joystick, button, ultrasonic sensor, and buzzer. The ultrasonic sensor was attached with tape to the servo motor, since we lacked adequate supplies. The programming was done with the Arduino IDE.
Challenges I ran into
We had trouble integrating the servo module and the ultrasonic module together to work simultaneously.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
We were able to get the ultrasonic module and the joystick module to work simultaneously.
What I learned
We learned much about the language of the Arduino editor, and about circuits in general. Additionally, we learned about ultrasonic ranging, servo motors, and analog input. We had to manipulate these in order to create the circuit.
What's next for Ultra-Cane
We plan to connect the distance measurements to a speaker that would convert the text to speech. This would have happened, had we have been able to acquire a speaker and a Bluetooth module. This would further keep the user safe and more cautious of his/her surroundings.
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