Baseball Sonar for the visually impaired
Not so long ago I stumbled upon several developments in the field of assistance to the visually impaired. All of them were united by one thing - they are based on ultrasound and feedback, tactile or audio. These were canes and gloves. What usually upsets me in such messages is that the prototype showed that they started patenting, but it does not reach production.
Having studied the question, I realized that so far nothing can replace a white cane for the visually impaired. But the tools they do not interfere. Already have an ultrasonic flashlight, glove, cane. Some of this can even be bought in stores. My task was to make a device that will help the visually impaired to navigate in unfamiliar rooms and which is used in conjunction with a cane. And besides, the device should not be difficult to assemble, so that any radio amateur can help in its creation. It turned out such a baseball cap:
')
The main functionality of the device. A baseball cap is worn on the head, an ultrasonic sensor measures the distance to obstacles, depending on the distance, a signal is sent to the headset, which changes according to the principle of parking sensors - the closer the obstacle, the more often the signal.
To create a baseball cap, we need:
Since the sensor has 4 legs, it is convenient to attach it to a baseball cap visor with their help. We make 4 holes with an awl, insert the sensor into them, solder 4 wires to it and pass them under the visor. Now we have solved the task of mounting the sensor, since this is a protruding part and therefore has an "increased risk" to fall off.
We cut off one of the "ears" from the headphones, solder 2 contacts to the wire. We make a hole in the side of the baseball cap and pass the wire through it. As a rule, a baseball cap has a small fabric lapel along the inner radius, it is convenient to pass a wire under it. We reach it in such a way under the visor. Insert one of the wires of the headphone into the analog input, the second in GND.
Access to the battery must be provided for easy replacement, which means it needs to be fixed outside the baseball cap. Therefore, we will need to make another hole. The switch is also attached to the wire from the battery and output.
The arduino sketch is very simple. In it, we measure the distance to the object and emit a sound signal with a different pause, depending on the square of the distance to the obstacle. In our example, we begin to respond to an obstacle 1.5 meters before it, as practice has shown, for orientation in the room, this is quite enough. The device operates on the principle of parking sensors. The closer the obstacle, the more often the sound is heard. Acceleration is not taken into account, but changing the program accordingly is not difficult.
The final touch - we close the space under the visor of the baseball cap with a cloth. Whether to additionally fix the controller - see for yourself. It seems to me that it is sufficiently enough to tighten the fabric and glue it without sparing the glue. This will be a fairly strong connection, the structure will be rigid, and the controller will be fixed.
This is the final product.
The cost of money is not too big. The main costs fall on the baseball cap itself and the controller - you can keep within 1,500 rubles. The remaining parts can be laid in 500 rubles. So the cost is close to 2,000 rubles. But you can save money if you order everything from China.
I had an arduino uno at hand, in this case it's oversize. It is suitable nano or mini pro. An ultrasonic sensor can be bought in the same place as Arduino - in online stores in the vastness of our Motherland (more expensive, but faster) or in China (cheaper, but to wait a long time). Faced with the fact that in the capital it is quite difficult to find, for reasonable money, Arduino controllers of small form factors, apparently little demand.
It is clear that the idea is described and you can do everything yourself. I also understand that not everyone wants and can bother with it. Therefore, I made a website where you can pre-order a baseball cap. Site sonarcap.ru . I’ll say right away that there is nothing interesting on the site and it’s worth going to it only if you want to place an order. If out of idle curiosity, it is better not to, the site is not sharpened by the habr effect.
Field test video is available here .
Having studied the question, I realized that so far nothing can replace a white cane for the visually impaired. But the tools they do not interfere. Already have an ultrasonic flashlight, glove, cane. Some of this can even be bought in stores. My task was to make a device that will help the visually impaired to navigate in unfamiliar rooms and which is used in conjunction with a cane. And besides, the device should not be difficult to assemble, so that any radio amateur can help in its creation. It turned out such a baseball cap:
')
The main functionality of the device. A baseball cap is worn on the head, an ultrasonic sensor measures the distance to obstacles, depending on the distance, a signal is sent to the headset, which changes according to the principle of parking sensors - the closer the obstacle, the more often the signal.
To create a baseball cap, we need:
- Baseball cap
- Arduino Controller
- Headphones
- Ultrasonic sensor
- Small switch
- Connector for crown battery, power connector
- Battery crown
- Wires
Since the sensor has 4 legs, it is convenient to attach it to a baseball cap visor with their help. We make 4 holes with an awl, insert the sensor into them, solder 4 wires to it and pass them under the visor. Now we have solved the task of mounting the sensor, since this is a protruding part and therefore has an "increased risk" to fall off.
We cut off one of the "ears" from the headphones, solder 2 contacts to the wire. We make a hole in the side of the baseball cap and pass the wire through it. As a rule, a baseball cap has a small fabric lapel along the inner radius, it is convenient to pass a wire under it. We reach it in such a way under the visor. Insert one of the wires of the headphone into the analog input, the second in GND.
Access to the battery must be provided for easy replacement, which means it needs to be fixed outside the baseball cap. Therefore, we will need to make another hole. The switch is also attached to the wire from the battery and output.
The arduino sketch is very simple. In it, we measure the distance to the object and emit a sound signal with a different pause, depending on the square of the distance to the obstacle. In our example, we begin to respond to an obstacle 1.5 meters before it, as practice has shown, for orientation in the room, this is quite enough. The device operates on the principle of parking sensors. The closer the obstacle, the more often the sound is heard. Acceleration is not taken into account, but changing the program accordingly is not difficult.
This is the sketch itself.
#include "Ultrasonic.h"
Ultrasonic ultrasonic (7, 6);
void setup () {
pinMode (14, OUTPUT);
pinMode (13, OUTPUT);
}
void beep (int d, int l, int p) {
int to = l / (d / 1000);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
for (int i = 0; i <to; i ++) {
analogWrite (14, 0);
analogWrite (14, 255);
delayMicroseconds (d);
}
digitalWrite (13, LOW);
delay (p);
}
void loop () {
dist = ultrasonic.Ranging (CM); // get distance
if (dist> 150 or dist == 0) {
digitalWrite (13, LOW);
}
else {
beep (3000, 100, 20);
delay (dist * dist / 15);
}
}
Ultrasonic ultrasonic (7, 6);
void setup () {
pinMode (14, OUTPUT);
pinMode (13, OUTPUT);
}
void beep (int d, int l, int p) {
int to = l / (d / 1000);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
for (int i = 0; i <to; i ++) {
analogWrite (14, 0);
analogWrite (14, 255);
delayMicroseconds (d);
}
digitalWrite (13, LOW);
delay (p);
}
void loop () {
dist = ultrasonic.Ranging (CM); // get distance
if (dist> 150 or dist == 0) {
digitalWrite (13, LOW);
}
else {
beep (3000, 100, 20);
delay (dist * dist / 15);
}
}
The final touch - we close the space under the visor of the baseball cap with a cloth. Whether to additionally fix the controller - see for yourself. It seems to me that it is sufficiently enough to tighten the fabric and glue it without sparing the glue. This will be a fairly strong connection, the structure will be rigid, and the controller will be fixed.
This is the final product.
The cost of money is not too big. The main costs fall on the baseball cap itself and the controller - you can keep within 1,500 rubles. The remaining parts can be laid in 500 rubles. So the cost is close to 2,000 rubles. But you can save money if you order everything from China.
I had an arduino uno at hand, in this case it's oversize. It is suitable nano or mini pro. An ultrasonic sensor can be bought in the same place as Arduino - in online stores in the vastness of our Motherland (more expensive, but faster) or in China (cheaper, but to wait a long time). Faced with the fact that in the capital it is quite difficult to find, for reasonable money, Arduino controllers of small form factors, apparently little demand.
It is clear that the idea is described and you can do everything yourself. I also understand that not everyone wants and can bother with it. Therefore, I made a website where you can pre-order a baseball cap. Site sonarcap.ru . I’ll say right away that there is nothing interesting on the site and it’s worth going to it only if you want to place an order. If out of idle curiosity, it is better not to, the site is not sharpened by the habr effect.
Field test video is available here .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/173585/
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