Implementation of Electronic Walking Stick for the Blind Using a Microcontroller and Ultrasonic Sensor

Abstract

The difficulties encountered by visually impaired people has been a major problem in our society. How to carter for their mobility, reduce the danger and difficulties of finding obstacle in their ways and make movement so fast and safer for them. In this study, an electronic walking stick for the blind was implemented using a microcontroller Atmega328 and an ultrasonic sensor. The electronic circuit was simulated in stages using Proteus 8.0 design suit. Stages includes the RF module unit, moisture sensor unit, Light sensor unit, ultrasonic module unit, voltage regulator unit, and the buzzer unit. The simulated circuit was constructed on a printed circuit board and tested for continuity and power ON. Also an evaluation performance test was carried out with 40 volunteers who were blindfolded and walked through a path with the stick for straight obstacles detection, water detection, and the remote control detection. The true positive, false positive, true negative and false negative were recorded. Results shows that the constructed walking stick performed very well according to the specification of the design with sensitivity of 98% and specificity of 96%. Implying that the constructed device can correctly identify 98% presence of obstacles and 96% of No obstacle along the path with 97% accuracy. However, it may also fail to identify 2% presence of obstacles and 4% of obstacles when there are no obstacles. The walking stick with an alarm system is a welcoming solution for the visually impaired people since the device can serve to them like an artificial vision. It is affordable, light weight and suitable for the blind people to aid in their navigation.