Senser
The purpose of my project is to aid the physically challenged, specifically the blind or the blind and deaf, by reducing the amount of unexpected contact they receive and detecting small or moving objects. Basically, my guide cane emits a pulse out in the distance and times how long it takes to receive an echo to estimate how far away an object is. This process is very similar to how bats and dolphins use echolocation to navigate their surroundings. As the cane approaches an object, it will vibrate faster and play a tone at a higher frequency. The way that this works is the red sensor at the bottom of the cane is called an ultrasonic rangefinder and it sends out that pulse I talked about earlier at the speed of sound in air, approximately 340 meters per second. After it registers the distance, it vibrates using an offset spinning motor with weights on one side and a VEX speaker.
I believe “Senser” exemplifies an engineering based service project for the physically challenged, an underappreciated and neglected community. Through this project, I have grown a larger passion for computer, mechanical, and electrical engineering and it has opened my eyes to a promising career path. As an under appreciated and under acknowledged group, I aim to provide the physically challenged a tool to improve their interaction with the world around them.
