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Design and Implement A Smart Blind Stick

Article in Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control Systems · August 2019

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Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 11, No. 8, 2019

Design and Implement Smart Blind Stick

Ihab A. Satam, Electrical Techniques Department, Technical Institute / Alhawija, Northern Technical University.
E-mail: Ihab_hwj@ntu.edu.iq
Mokhaled N.A. Al-Hamadani, Electronic Techniques Department, Technical Institute /Alhawija, Northern Technical University.
E-mail: Mokhaled_hwj@ntu.edu.iq
Alaa H. Ahmed, Networking Department, College of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Kirkuk.
E-mail: Alaa.Ahmed@uokirkuk.edu.iq
Abstract--- Technologies are growing very fast, which helps people to get a better and easier life. The smart stick is
a technique to help sightless people to recognize their way. Sightless People suffer from the lack of ability to do
their daily activities, from walking in the street to visiting friends or relative or any daily things. Therefore, the
solution for this major problem is proposed by designing a stick that can aid the person to walk safely without
having fear of hitting someone on the way or any solid objects. The stick has been designed using Solid Work
software. The electric circuit was simulated using Proteus software for designing and simulating electrical circuits.
In this paper, we have used three ultrasonic sensors. One sensor has been placed in front of the stick and the other
two have been placed on both sides, left and right. To detect the motion from almost every side, it has been used
vibrating motor and buzzer alarms to alert the person if some obstacle is detected near him.
Keywords--- Smart Stick, Ultrasonic Sensor, Arduino, Controller, Proteus.

I. Introduction
Blindness is a term that used to describe people that cannot use the ability to see. Human beings receive around
80% of the information from the environment via sight. Therefore, for blind people, it became difficult for them to
fit in natural life. That’s why they used either the ordinary white cane, a dog, or the help of other human beings.
Recently, many studies have dealt with smart stick design. K.S. Manikanta, et.al [1] used Arduino NANO with one
Ultrasonic sensor and buzzer to detect obstacles. Pratik N. K. et.al [2] used raspberry pi microcontroller to control
ultrasonic sensor and IR sensor to detect obstacles. Wall M.I. et.al [3] proposed a work to operate a smart stick using
pic16f877a microcontroller and one ultrasonic sensor to detect obstacles. Then send the signal to an ISD1932
recorder/ playback and connect this recorder to a speaker. In addition to what mentioned before, Mohd Helmy A.
et.al [4], have used MPLAB software to program the microcontroller and ultrasonic to detect the obstacles. Beside
the ultrasonic sensor, Ayat Nada et.al [5] used a water sensor to detect the existence of the water regardless of its
level. The purpose was to awaken the person about it. Ashraf Anwar et.al [6] added beside the ultrasonic sensor,
water sensor, IR and heat sensors to detect the environment. Another design introduced by Vipual V. et.al [7]; have
used one ultrasonic sensor and moisture sensor with microcontroller of pic 16F87a. When the sensor detects an
obstacle, the microcontroller sends a signal to the actuator which is the buzzer in this case to alert the person. Roland
N. et.al [8] have planned device that will discover obstacles yet as water within the user's path. It also has a further
feature which will simply be set by the user just in case it's lost or misplaced. This feature is done using radio
frequency waves wherever there's a radio frequency receiver circuit on the stick and a separate radio frequency
transmitter circuit that triggers an alarm on pressing a pushbutton. A traditional walking cane forms the main frame
of the device. That based on which ultrasonic sensors are mounted at applicable locations to discover obstacles.
Furthermore, it has water sensors to detect water within the path of the user. The mentioned sensors send a signal to
an Arduino programmed chip that communicates with the alarm unit. The alarm unit comprises a buzzer and
vibrator that give notice the user of the obstacle or water in their path. The device is light-weight and is power-
driven by electric battery. The design of the device ensures accuracy. Vinay S et.al [9] used GORE method (Goal
Oriented Requirements Engineering Methodology) to design a smart stick. The device developed based on radio
frequency Identification (RFID) that operates within the Low Frequency (LF) band. The envisioned device is a
combination of a RFID low-frequency reader module and a microcontroller unit to convey all the knowledge
pertaining to the product into the user, thereby enhancing their shopping expertise. Manikandan Sh. et.al [10] used
ultrasonic sensor with Arduino, then they added another feature in case of the person gets lost. They added GPRS
and GSM modules; therefore, the person`s family can track the person. Dada E. Gb et.al [11] used simple circuit for
the smart stick. The stick consists of one ultrasonic sensor and one water sensor with Arduino.

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Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 11, No. 8, 2019

The new improvement in our design which we will present in this paper, is that the stick consist of three
ultrasonic sensors for three coordination right, left and front.

II. Proposed Work

The proposed system has been divided into two parts. The first part was about designing the smart stick using
SOLID WORK software. SOLID WORK is modeling software that allows the user to design product in 2 and 3
dimensions in simple and almost cost-free methods. The design using SOILD WORK software has been done into
two phases. The first phase was designing every part alone. Then, the second phase was to assemble the parts
together. The final design as shown in figure 2 represents the final shape of the proposed smart stick.

Fig. 1: Solid Work Software

Fig. 2: Smart Stick

As shown in Figure 3, the stick contains three ultrasonic sensors positioned in front, right and left position. The
actuators are the vibrating motor and the buzzer to alarm the person from any obstacle that will be detected by the
sensor.

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Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 11, No. 8, 2019

The second part was the electronic system. The electronic system has been controlled using Arduino UNO.
When the switch on the top of the stick; the Ultrasonic is immediately sending the signal from the transmitter.
However, when the signal impacts the level surface it reflects back to the sensor`s receiver. Therefore, the Arduino
will send a pulse to the actuators (in this case, the vibrating motor and the buzzer) to work as the uploaded code.
Figure 3 shows the working principles of the system.

Fig. 3: Smart Stick Parts

Fig. 4: The System Working Principles

III. System Parts

 Ultrasonic Sensors
A Transducer can measure distances using ultrasonic waves. It consists of two parts, transmitter and receiver. The
transmitter emits the ultrasonic waves. The receiver detects the reflecting signals from the objects. The ultrasonic
sensors work based on a principle which called “The Time of flight” using the speed of sound. A rang of pulses
between (20 KHZ to 200 KHZ) is emitted by the sensor. When the pulse impacts an object and then reflected;
therefore, the receiver of the sensor will be able to detect this signal. The time difference between the outgoing
signal and the reflected signal known as (Δt) and the speed of sound at 20оc is equal to 343.5m/s. The distance can be given
according to the formula:

If the speed of sound is converted to centimeter per microseconds then c= 343.5*100/1000000 =0.03435 cm/µs.
Instead of speed of sound, the pace of sound can be put in the formula instead of the speed.

Then the distance will be equal to.

 Arduino UNO
A microcontroller chip is based on Atmega328p microchip. It's an open source board. The board has 14 digital pins, 6
analogue pins and can be powered by USB cable or 9v external battery.

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 Buzzer
A "piezo buzzer" is basically a small speaker which will be connected directly to an Arduino. "Piezoelectricity" is an
impression where certain crystals can deform once electricity is applied to them. By applying an electrical signal at the proper
frequency, the crystal will create sound.

Fig. 5: Buzzer
 Vibrating Motor
A vibratory motor is actually a motor that's improperly balanced. In alternative words, there's an off-centered weight attached
to the motor's rotational shaft that causes the motor to wobble. The amount of wobble may be modified depending on the amount
of weight can be attached, the weight's distance from the shaft, and the speed at which the motor spins.

Fig. 6: Vibrating Motor

IV. Electric Circuit

The electric circuit has been designed using Proteus software. Then the actual circuit was built using the component mentioned
in the previous section. Proteus is software for designing and simulating electric circuits developed by labcenter electronics[12].
It also used for schematic capture and PCB design. Its simplicity and user-friendly design made it popular among electronics
hobbyists. Proteus is commonly used for digital simulations such as microcontrollers and microprocessors. The software is used
mainly by electronic design engineers and technicians to create schematics and electronic prints for manufacturing printed circuit
boards. The electric circuit of the system is shown in figure (7). It consists of three ultrasonic sensors, buzzer and a vibrating
motor. According to the code that was written using Arduino IDE software. If the obstacles are on the right side, the buzzer is
ON. If the obstacle is on the left side of the person, the vibrating motor is ON. If the Obstacle is from the front, both the vibrating
motor and the buzzer will Be ON. To simulate the Ultrasonic sensor in this program, a special sonar sensor used, it has an extra
pin that connected to a potentiometer (variable resistance), the changing the value of the resistance represents the changing in the
distance for the obstacle. The sensor is shown in figure 8. The code can be uploaded to the Arduino as long as the written code by
Arduino Ide software is saved as Hex. After assembling the circuit, by pressing the play option in the program, the result will be
appeared. The flowchart shown in figure 9 shows how the system work.

Fig. 7: Electric Circuit

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Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 11, No. 8, 2019

Fig. 8: Ultrasonic Sensor

Fig. 9: Flowchart of the System

Figure 10 shows the actual circuit for the system. Three ultrasonic sensors with vibrating motor and one Buzzer all connected
to an Arduino UNO controller. The same methodology applied for it. The overall system is shown in figure (11) below. The
figure shows that there is more than one buzzer; they work at the same time. According to the code uploaded to the controller.

Fig. 10: The Actual Electric Circuit

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 Jour of Adv Research in Dynamical & Control Systems, Vol. 11, No. 8, 2019

Fig. 11: Overall System

V. Result and Conclusion

The table below shows the result of the working system.
Sensor The actual distance The distance with the buzzer Error % Actuator
Right 70 cm 69.4 cm 0.85% Buzzer
Left 70cm 69.95cm 0.07% Motor
Front 70cm 70 cm 0% Buzzer and Motor
It is to be observed that when all the sensors detect at the same time both buzzer and vibrating motor (work simultaneity)
except that the buzzer delay between on and off is less than previous cases. The whole idea of using three sensors is to detect a
wide range of area that could make the person move freely quite simple, with low cost, and more safety for both indoor and
outdoor applications. In the Middle East countries such as Iraq, there is a huge need for a low-cost solution for blind people. That
is why most people can have a reliable, low cost, and an accurate device as presented in this paper.

Acknowledgment
This work is supported by Northern Technical University, Al-Hawija Technical Institute, Iraq.

References
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ISSN 1943-023X 47
Received: 03 June 2019/Accepted: 10 July 2019

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