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INDEX (TABLE OF CONTENTS)

CONTENTS Pg.
Sr.no. No.

1 ABSTRACT 2

2 INTRODUCTION 2

3 BLOCK DIAGRAM 3

4 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM 4

5 INTERFACING 5

6 WORKING 8

7 CONCLUSION 8
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Obstacle Detection for Visually Impaired Using

Raspberry Pi and Ultrasonic Sensors/PIR.

Abstract-
This project is about developing an electronic device for obstacle detection in the path of visually
impaired people. This device assists a user to walk without colliding with any obstacles in their path. It is a
wearable device in the form of a waist belt that has ultrasonic sensors/pir and raspberry pi installed on it. This
device detects obstacles around the user up to 500cm in three directions i.e. front, left and right using a network
of ultrasonic sensors/pir. These ultrasonic sensors are connected to raspberry pi that receives data signals from
these sensors for further data processing. The algorithm running in raspberry pi computes the distance from the
obstacle and converts it beeping sound thus making aware to that person wearing this band. This design is
benefitial in terms of it’s portability, low-cost, low power consumption and the fact that neither the user nor the
device requires initial training.

INTRODUCTION-
Commuting in crowded environment is a challenge for visually impaired people.
Visually impaired people are at disadvantage because they do not have access to any contextual and spatial
information around them. According to a survey, as of 2010 there were more that 285 million visually impaired
people worldwide, out of which 39 million were blind. We have proposed to develop a cost effective
application systems for visually impaired people so that they can move freely in known or unknown
environment. In today’s fast paced world, the daily lives of people has been affected by the aid and support
offered by technology. People, who are differently abled, now have the option of many devices, which can help
them in their day-to-day activities. A lot of devices have been created in this field however, most of them are
either not in use or requires a lot of training. Some of the works done in this field are explained below:

DRISHTI is a wireless pedestrian navigation system for the visually impaired and differently abled. It
emphasizes on enhancing the navigation experience of visually impaired people by focusing on contextual
awareness. However, a lot of effort took in integrating this technology thus, the components were not optimized
fully.

TYFLOS system focused on integrating different navigation technologies such as a wireless computer,
cameras, natural language processor, microphone, range sensors, GPS sensors, text-to-speech device, etc., and
methodologies such as region-based segmentation, fusion, range data conversion, etc., to allow more
independence during navigation and reading. The drawback of this system was that it was not tested on blind
people thus, it did not have any feedback to improve on its hardware and software integration.

NAVBELT is a guidance system that used a mobile robot obstacle avoidance system. The prototype consisted
of ultrasonic range sensors, a computer and earphones. The disadvantage of this system was that it exclusively
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used audio feedback and was also very bulky for the users. Moreover, the users required extensive training to
operate this system.

Most of the projects that have been created requires internet connection i.e. there is a need to maintain
continuous connectivity, which is not only difficult to attain in certain areas, but also adds the additional cost of
data usage. In terms of sensors, these projects use proximity sensors, infrared sensors, laser diode, etc., which
are affected by external atmospherics such as sunlight, rain, dust and may not function properly in outdoor
environment. Moreover, the end products that were created are difficult to wear, non-portable and are very
costly, making them out of reach for common people. All these reasons resulted in research and development of
a device, which is easy to wear, portable, cost-effective and can work without the use of any additional
connectivity such as the internet, thereby, making a visually impaired person aware of the obstacles in an easier
way.

Block Diagram-

Block Diagram For Obstacle Detection System.

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Circuit Diagram-

Ultrasonic sensor interfacing diagram with Raspberry pi.

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PIR interfacing with Raspberry pi.

INTERFACING-
an

Interfacing HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor with Raspberry Pi-

Ultrasonic distance sensors are designed to measure distance between the source and target using ultrasonic
waves. We use ultrasonic waves because they are relatively accurate across short distances and don’t cause
disturbances as they are inaudible to human ear.

HC-SR04 is a commonly used module for non contact distance measurement for distances from 2cm to 400cm.
It uses sonar (like bats and dolphins) to measure distance with high accuracy and stable readings. It consist of
an ultrasonic transmitter, receiver and control circuit. The transmitter transmits short bursts which gets reflected
by target and are picked up by the receiver. The time difference between transmission and reception of
ultrasonic signals is calculated. Using the speed of sound and ‘Speed = Distance/Time‘ equation, the distance
between the source and target can be easily calculated.

HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensor module has four pins :

 VCC – 5V, input power

 TRIG – Trigger Input
 ECHO – Echo Output
 GND – Ground

Working of HC-SR04-
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Ultrasonic Module Operation

1. Provide trigger signal to TRIG input, it requires a HIGH signal of atleast 10μS duration.
2. This enables the module to transmit eight 40KHz ultrasonic burst.
3. If there is an obstacle in-front of the module, it will reflect those ultrasonic waves
4. If the signal comes back, the ECHO output of the module will be HIGH for a duration of time taken for
sending and receiving ultrasonic signals. The pulse width ranges from 150μS to 25mS depending upon
the distance of the obstacle from the sensor and it will be about 38ms if there is no obstacle.

PIR Interfacing with raspberry pi-

 PIR sensor is used for detecting infrared heat radiations. This makes them useful in the detection of
moving living objects that emit infrared heat radiations.
 The output (in terms of voltage) of PIR sensor is high when it senses motion; whereas it is low when
there is no motion (stationary object or no object).
 PIR sensors are used in many applications like for room light control using human detection, human
motion detection for security purpose at home, etc.
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RASPBERRY PI-

Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized single board, low cost computer. It takes input from the GPIO pins,
which can be attached to LEDs, switches, analog signals and other devices. For our proposed design, we
connect the GPIO pins to the ultrasonic sensors. It requires a power source of 5V to be operational and
we have to insert a Micro SD memory card in it, which acts as its permanent memory. For our design
Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ is used. It contains 4 USB ports, a HDMI port, an audio jack port and an
Ethernet port. The Ethernet port helps the device connect to the Internet and install required driver APIs.
It has a 700 MHz single core processor and supports programming languages such as Python, Java, C,
and C++ etc.

This mini computer runs our algorithm, which helps to calculate the distance from the obstacle based on
the input it receives from the sensors.Then it is processed and accordingly buzzer is buzzed.
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WORKING -
The process starts when power is supplied to the Raspberry Pi. As Raspberry Pi boots up its
operating system, it triggers the ultrasonic sensor to start sending burst signal. All the sensors are triggered at
approximately the same time thus, there is very less delay. After the signal returns back to the receiver of the
sensor as an echo, the Raspberry Pi calculates the time taken from transmitting and receiving the echo. Using
this time we calculate the distance of an obstacle from any of the sensors. Next, it checks if any of the distance
calculated is less than the minimum distance specified. If none of the sensors have distance less than the
minimum distance, the entire process starts again. However,if the sensors detects distance less than desired
distance, it triggers the pre-defined conditions.

Conclusion And Future Scope-

This project is a development of an electronic device using a system of Raspberry Pi and
various other components (sensors, etc.). It has the following features:

 A device that helps visually impaired people as walking assistance.  Uses sensors to gather information of
obstacles.

 A device that can be used without Internet connectivity.

 A device that is cost effective, easy to use and portable.

 A device that notifies the user about obstacles in the form of beeps.

As explained earlier, the current system is designed to be placed on the visually impaired person. This increases
the ease with which the device can be carried and also the time to setup the device becomes very less.
Enhancements could be done to make the system more mobile as compared to the current design. It can be
made more compact so as to make it easier to carry. In addition, if a GPS is installed onto the device, it could
also help navigate the person in outdoor environment.

REFERENCES -
[1] Pascolini D, Mariotti SPM. Global estimates of visual impairment: 2010. British Journal Ophthalmology
Online First published December 1, 2011 as 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2011-300539.

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[3] Dakopoulos and N. G. Bourbakis, "Wearable Obstacle Avoidance Electronic Travel Aids for Blind: A
Survey," in IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews), vol. 40,
no. 1, pp. 25-35, Jan. 2010.
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[4] Shraga Shovel, Iwan Ulrich, and Johann Borenstien, “NavBelt and the Guide Cane”, IEEE Transactions on
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[9] A. Carullo and M. Parvis, "An ultrasonic sensor for distance measurement in automotive applications," in
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[10] V. Magori, "Ultrasonic sensors in air," Ultrasonics Symposium, 1994. Proceedings., 1994 IEEE, Cannes,
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