Room Navigator

Project Overview

Description

The goal of this project is to provide a way to aid the blind and blind-deaf in navigating through a room. Our goal is to create a device and a sensor that will help lead the blind and blind-deaf to devices or objectives, such as a door or help them find their phone. There will be some device that helps triangulate the position of the person in the room and uses that to measure the distance away from the objective. Also, there will be a way for a blind or blind-deaf person to understand which direction they need to move to reach the objective.

Team Members

Alexander Armour
Neal Bansal
Elizabeth Gikas
Nate Schmetter (TA)
Jim Feher (instructor)

Link to weekly log

Objectives

• Figure out how to use motors with Arduino
• Figure out how to use infrared receivers with Arduino
• Figure out how to use infrared LEDs with Arduino and have them blink at a certain frequency. If we use 2 sets of LEDs, have them blink at different frequencies.
• Develop a method using the infrared receiver signal strength to accurately calculate the position of the person in the room. This will require some experimentation, measuring the infrared signal strength at carefully measured out distances
• Provide helpful output to lead the blind or blind-deaf person to the door

Challenges

Finding a way to accurately calculate position in a room

• Do we use bluetooth, FM radio arduino module, or infrared sensors?
• These methods will tell us how strong the signal is. How do we compute distance in a room from the signal strength?

We plan to use LEDs with IR receivers that will be able to tell distance. They will then communicate with vibration motors that will, based on the distance, vibrate at with increased frequency as the distance is decreased.
Using Infrared Method

• How do we find distance given the signal strength reading from the IR receiver?
• How do we make sure they are being led in the right direction?

This challenge will be difficult as calibrating for distance will be a very time consuming task. But we will take the time to measure the distance as exact as possible. The idea is that the vibration will start when they are facing the right direction, which will be determined by the communication between the LEDs and IR receivers.
Providing output to the user that is easy to follow

• Is changing intensity of vibration enough to lead them in the right direction?

We hope to test this soon!
Learning new coding skills

• Coding the Arduino, using IR receiver, and motors

Security

• Blind people would rely heavily on this device. How do we ensure it cannot be hacked into and tampered with?

User Friendly

• How will we make the controller something easy for the user to carry?

Budget (Subject to Change)

• 3-4 Arduinos, jump wires, breadboards, resistors, and power supplies (From the Lab)
• 10 Infrared receiver for Arduino, $1.95 each, $19.50 total (Link)
• Infrared LEDs, 100 for $13.36, (Link)
• 330 ohm resistors $2.85 (Link)
• 6 Vibrating Motors, $29.70 (Link)
• Total: $65.41

Gantt Chart