DEVELOPMENT OF

SMART BLIND STICK

INTRODUCTION:
The main aim of this project is to assist the blind persons without the human need. It is
well known that the blind people carry a hand stick with them whenever they need a support.
Sometimes even when they use this stick, there is no guarantee that the blind persons are safe
and secured in reaching their destinations. There may be an obstacle in their path but is not
encountered by the person with the help of the stick. Thus, the people may be injured if the
obstacle is big enough or dangerous. Thus, a design has been developed to assist the blind and
provide them a clear path.
The system consists of ultra-sonic sensor fixed to the users stick. While the user moves the
stick in the forward direction, the ultrasonic sensor fixed to the stick tries to detect the obstacle
if any present in the path. If the sensor detects the obstacle, the output of the receiver triggers
and this change will be detected by the microcontroller since the output of the receivers is
given as inputs to the microcontroller. Thus, the microcontroller immediately alerts the buzzer
as soon it receives the triggered output from any of the sensors. Thus, the user can change the
direction of the stick, in any other direction to avoid any kind of injury, as soon the buzzer is
activated. The entire controlling unit will be fixed to the hand stick.
The system not only gives the buzzer sound with the same intensity but it gives the sound
which depends on the distance between the user and the obstacle.

SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE TOOLS USED:

Software tools:
1) ISIS Proteus Simulator
2) ISIS Proteus PCB Designer
3) MPLAB X
Hardware Components:
1) PIC16F877
2) ECHO SEN1156 Ultra Sound Sensor.
3) Buzzer

BLOCK DIAGRAM:

BLOCK DESCRIPTION:
1) ULTRASONIC SENSOR:

This "ECHO" Ultrasonic Distance Sensor provides very short (2 cm) to long-range (4 m)
detection and ranging. The sensor provides precise, stable noncontact distance measurements
from 2cm to 4 m with very high accuracy. Its compact size, higher range and easy usability
make it a handy sensor for distance measurement and mapping. The board can easily be
interfaced to microcontrollers where the triggering and measurement can be done using one
I/O pin. The sensor transmits an ultrasonic wave and produces an output pulse that
corresponds to the time required for the burst echo to return to the sensor. By measuring the
echo pulse width, the distance to target can easily be calculated.

2) PIC16F877 - ECHO INTERFACE:

As per the figure, the signal I/O pin of the ECHO sensor is to be connected to RB2
(Pin<35>) of the HOST controller. Pin RB2 of the host controller has to be configured to both
input and output accordingly to the function. It is the host controller that has to trigger the
functioning of an ECHO senor. At this time the pin RB2 of the host controller has to be
configured as output so that it can give (o/p) a trigger signal to the sensor. The trigger pulse
should be of range 10sec - 100sec, typical value is 10sec.

After triggering the sensor, pin RB2 has to be configured as input so that the host
controller switches to the receiving mode. Any pin configured as input should be provided
with either pull-up or pull-down voltages so that it isnt affected by small static field
variations. But here no external pull-ups or pull-downs are required since, the signal I/O pin of
the ECHO sensor which is to be connected to pin RB2 has been provided with pull-down onboard.

In the receiving mode, the host controller has to wait for the Low to High transition in
the signal pin. When a transition is detected, the host controller should start counting the time.
The host controller can use a timer or any other programming logic to calculate the time. The

counting should terminate when the next high to low transition is detected. The time gap
between transitions will vary (PWM) with respect to the distance to the target. The obtained
value (pulse-width) in micro seconds represents the echo time and further calibrations of this
data gives the obstacle distance, ie, the echo time in micro-seconds divided by 58 (at 30 C)
gives you the obstacle distance in centimetres and the same divided by 148 (at 30 C) gives
the distance in inches, i.e. echo time in sec /58 = distance in cm. The calculated distance can
be used for further computations.

speed of ultrasonic wave = 0.0347cm/us

Time=(2*Distance)/velocity
=(2*Distance)/ 0.0347cm/us
=Distance/58
3) PIC16f877- BUZZER Interface:

The microcontroller computes the distance to the obstacle and uses the buzzer
to indicate the relative distance the obstacle. The microcontroller actually generates sound
with different intensities based the distance using a software generated PWM. The intensity is
maximum when the distance to the obstacle is less than 20cm. The intensity is decremented
for every further 20 cm and is minimum when the obstacle is at a distance of 100cm (1 meter).
The buzzer remains inactive if the obstacle is at a distance more than 1 meter.

CIRCUIT EXPLANATION
The circuit have 4 sections

Power Supply Section

Micro controller Section
Sensor Section
Output Section

A 9V battery is used as the main power source. A voltage regulator circuit based on a 7805 IC
is user to make a regulated 5V supply. The micro controller used is PIC16F877. The ultra
sound sensor produces output corresponding to the distance to the obstacle. This output is fed
to the micro controller through RB2. The output section have a buzzer, which is programed in
such a way that it produce different tones depending on the distance to the obstacle.

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

CONCLUSION:
A simple, cheap, configurable, easy to handle electronic guidance system is designed
to provide constructive assistant and support for blind and visually impaired persons. The
system is designed, implemented, tested, and verified. The results indicate that the system is
efficient and unique in its capability in estimating the source and distance of the objects that
may encounter the blind. It was found that the ultrasonic sensor was very effective in
determining the distance from the obstacle. This system is light weight and does not require a
huge device to be hold for a long distance, and it also does not require any special training.
This system also resolves limitations that are related to the most of the movement problems
that may influence the blind people in their environment. Thus this device will be very helpful
for the blind in enhancing their visualization of the surrounding environment.

REFERENCE
1) An ultrasonic ranging System for the blind-BatarsehD.T,Burcham. T. N, McFadyen,
Dept of Agric& Biological Eng. Mississippi State Univ, MS,USA.
2) A Smart Infrared Microcontroller- Based blind Guidance System Amjed S.
Fahoum, HebaB.AlHmoud, AusiailaA.Al- Fraihat; Bio-medical Systems and
Informatics Engineering Department, Yarmouk University, Jordan.