Robotic cane for the visually impaired

Abstract

Currently, there is a growing public interest in improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, being the visual limitation one of them, where different research projects have been developed. Assistance robotics is a branch dedicated to the support in mobility and rehabilitation of people with visual disabilities and other limitations. This work describes the construction and use of a robotic cane to assist people with visual problems. The robot structure is generated by 3D printing, and the electronic system has been designed based on Arduino technology. The robot features include a sensor distance to detect possible collisions, a GPS to track its movements, and two DC motors in caterpillar-like configuration for cane mobility. In addition, the robot has connectivity with mobile devices through Bluetooth communication, where the mobile application coordinates the movements of the robot in two ways, manual and autonomous, allowing to reach the desired location and sending the user’s location to the web. This proposal is tested in a structured environment so that patients cast their perspective through a usability test and their characteristics are examined through the analysis of an expert. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.