Design And Construction Of A Magnetic Walking Stick For The Visually-Impaired

ABSTRACT

A white cane is used by the blind or the visually-impaired to scan the surroundings for obstacles and orientation marks, and find the correct path. The visually-impaired using a white cane still need a sighted guide when they need to walk down the street or use the stairs. This proposed project will help them reach their destination without much dependency on a sighted guide. It uses magnetic reed switches mounted on a specially-designed walking stick. The complete system requires magnetic tracks designed for the visually-impaired. It is built around two magnetic reed switches, 1.5V AA pencil cell, piezo buzzer, connecting wires and 1.27cm (1/2-inch) PVC pipe for construction. Two normally-open (NO)-type reed switches are placed at the bottom of the walking stick, which is connected to a buzzer

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL PAGE

DEDICATION

ACKNOWELDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE

1.0      INTRODUCTION

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

• PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
• AIM OF THE PROJECT
• OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
• PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
• LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT
• ADVANTAGES OF THE PROJECT
• PROBLEM OF THE PROJECT
• APPLICATION OF THE PROJECT
• RESEARCH QUESTION
• PROJECT ORGANISATION

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
• REVIEW OF THE RELATED STUDY

CHAPTER THREE

3.0     CONSTRUCTION METHODOLOGY

3.1      BASIC OF THE SYSTEM

3.2      BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE SYSTEM

3.3      SYSTEM OPERATION

3.4      CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

3.5      CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION

3.6     DESCRIPTION OF COMPONENTS USED

3.7      POWER SUPPLY UNIT

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0      TESTING AND RESULTS

• CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURE AND TESTING
• INSTALLATION OF THE COMPLET DESIGN
• ASSEMBLING OF SECTIONS
• TESTING OF SYSTEM OPERATION
• COST ANALYSIS

CHAPTER FIVE

• CONCLUSION
• RECOMMENDATION
• REFERENCES

Circuit and working

The circuit diagram of the walking stick for the visually-impaired is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of magnetic walking stick for the visually-impaired

It is built around two magnetic reed switches, 1.5V AA pencil cell, piezo buzzer, connecting wires and 1.27cm (1/2-inch) PVC pipe for construction.

Two normally-open (NO)-type reed switches are placed at the bottom of the walking stick, which is connected to a buzzer. The proposed construction detail of the magnetic walking stick is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2: Proposed construction detail of a magnetic walking stick

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A suitable magnetic track should be constructed on the roads, street crossings, office corridors and the like. Whenever a user walks down the magnetic track along with this stick, reed switches get closed and activate the buzzer. Presence of the buzzer sound indicates that the user is following the right track or path. When the buzzer sound stops, the user understands that either he or she is walking on the wrong path, has reached the destination or it is time to ask for help from the people nearby.

Construction and testing

Take a 1.27cm PVC pipe and insert two reed switches and a 1.5V cell inside the pipe, as shown in Fig. 2. Mount the buzzer at a suitable location outside the pipe.

The whole system can be enclosed inside the PVC pipe and used as a white cane. The user does not need to carry any other device. He or she should always keep the tip of the walking stick near the magnetic track while walking. Fig. 3 shows the application of the project along the magnetic track (indicated in yellow).

Fig. 3: Walking along magnetic track

The piezo buzzer can be replaced with a vibrator. When the user goes on a wrong path, vibration stops. At this time, he or she can ask for help from other people around to guide him or her in the correct direction.