IOT based Obstacle Detector

System for Blind People

Preparing students:

Amir humood Gatea Fatima Ghazi Faisal

Supervisor:

A.A Sara Raad kasem

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 ‫الر ِح ِيم‬
‫الرحْ َم ِن ه‬ ‫ِبس ِْم ه ِ‬
‫َّللا ه‬

‫َّللا ِب َما تَ ْع َملُونَ َخ ِبير )‪{ (11‬‬ ‫َّللا الهذِينَ آ َمنُوا ِمن ُك ْم َوالهذِينَ أُوتُوا ْال ِع ْل َم َد َر َجا ٍ‬
‫ت ۚ َو ه ُ‬ ‫} َي ْرفَ ِع ه ُ‬

‫صدق هللا العلي العظيم‬

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 Supervisor
certification

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 Dedication
A dedication to the highest good

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 Acknowledgements
‫شكر وتقدير‬

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Abstract :
In today’s world millions of people are having problem of vision. According to the
recent survey of WHO about 289 million of peoples are visually impaired. This
problem make them dependent on others. there are different methods are used for
the aid of mobility of the visually impaired people. In this project we will make the
use of Ultrasonic sound to enhance the obstacle detection for the blind people
within the range of 50cm to 1.5m . The project is made by inspiring from the
natural navigation system of a mammal called Bat. Although the navigation for
blind using ultrasonic is a complex process but here we will present only the hurdle
detection procedure. The project make the use of Mega Arduino processor,
ultrasonic sensors, speaker , Arduino cable for burning, and some connecting
wires. All this setup will be arranged on stick and a blind person will use it. The
ultrasonic emitter emit ultrasonic sound of high frequency which is perceived by
the ultrasonic receiver after reflection from the obstacle and then passed to the
processor for further necessary action in the form of some sound.

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 Table of contents

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 List of tables

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 List of figures

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 Symbols definition

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 List of abbreviations

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 Chapter one

Introduction

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‫تبقى فارغة‬

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1.1 Introduction:

Vision is the most precious gift from the side of ALLAH

ALMIGHTY. It is vision with which one can enjoy the whole beauty of
life .According to Socrates, vision is life. But millions of people are
visually impaired. Due to this deficiency of vision these people are left far
behind in this challenging world. According to the recent survey. There
are over 286 million of blind and partially sighted people in the world [1]
and out of these about 90% blind solely depend on others for their
survival. They face a huge problem of mobility and survival in an
unknown environment.
In a normal day to day situation a blind person waves the blind
stick ahead of them in order to check for any objects or obstacles. it is
simplest and oldest way but it is not useful at some situation like walking
in the street or a crowded place , for that reason , they can not navigate
alone or have high dependency on them self , Due to this deficiency of
vision these people are left far behind in this challenging world and they
become burden of other people who are they rely on.
Another method for guiding them is the guiding dogs. These are
specially trained dogs which help the visually impaired people to navigate
through the obstacle by alerting the person regarding the hurdles resulting
the person to change his/her path. This method too has large number of
limitations including the complex directions provided by the dogs. Also
this technique is limited to about five to six years after which the dogs has
to be renewed due to some natural phenomenon. These dogs are very
expensive and are out of the range of the poor people to be afforded.
Moreover it is also difficult for visually impaired person to provide extra
care for another living thing.
With the development of sensors after the World War 2, many
devices were made to help the visually handicap people to detect the

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hurdles present in their surroundings. In this project the modern
technology has been used of to design such a system which could replace
the guide dog to help the visually impaired people. The use of technology
for such purposes is the highest moral achievement. Many devices were
made to cope up with this issue but all have certain limitations along with
its benefits. Here in this project we will make the use of ultrasound system
by inspiring from the natural navigation of a mammal called Bat. It will
make the use of high frequency sound and its reflection after striking the
obstacle. For this purpose we will make the use ultrasonic sensors i.e.
ultrasonic emitter and ultrasonic receiver. The reason for choosing this
ultrasonic sensor since this sensor is a sensor that is the most effective in
terms of distance measurements [2]. The emitter will produce the high
frequency sound and after its reflection from the barrier, is received by the
receptionist part of the project and then transmitted to the processor for
further action.

1.2 The Aim of The Project :

The aim of this project is to assist the visually impaired people to
travel independently without external aid and monitoring real-time
location information of these individuals. a smart obstacle detection
stick is presented in this project.
The system helps blind and visually impaired people to be highly self-
dependent by assisting their mobility regardless of where they are
outdoor or indoor.

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1.3 project outline :

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 Chapter Two
Tools And Software

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2.1 Literature Review:

Till the last few years, there are many new technologies have been
developed for visually challenged peoples ,But , there are a lot of limitations and
restrictions on those new inventions . All the above existing system cannot satisfy
the exact needs of the blind peoples. They use a white cane and pet dogs which is
very costlier and difficult to maintain. To overcome those limitations this project
will help. Nowadays there is a lot of technologies available for the visually
challenged but our project is cheaper among them.

2.1.1 Smart Stick:

An electronic approach to assist visually disabled persons. It is sensor

based circuitry, such that it consists Ultrasonic Sensor which is used to detect
obstacles, A PIC16F690 microcontroller reads these sensors and drives a buzzer, a
LED and a motor with PWM. An audio output is designated by a buzzer alarm.

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2.1.2 Arm7 Based Electronic Travel Aid System for Blind People:
This device aims to help the blind people to find obstacle free path. This Electronic
Travel Aid System (ETA) is fixed to the body of the blind people. When the object
is detected near to the blinds’ body it alerts them with the help of vibratory circuit
(speakers or head phones). The system consists of ultrasonic sensor, GPS Module,
GSM Module and vibratory circuit (speakers or headphones).

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2.2 Tools
In this section we will present software components that required to perform our
project.
2.2.1 Arduino IDE platform:
In the context of Arduino, "IDE" stands for Integrated Development
Environment. The Arduino IDE is a software application that provides a
convenient platform for writing, compiling, and uploading code to Arduino
microcontrollers. It includes a code editor with features like syntax highlighti
ng and auto-completion, a compiler to convert the written code into machine-
readable instructions, and tools for uploading the compiled code to an Arduino
board.
The Arduino IDE simplifies the development process for those working with
Arduino boards, making it easier to write and upload code without having to use
multiple tools separately. It's a user-friendly environment designed to streamline
the process of programming and working with Arduino microcontrollers.

Fig 2.1 Arduino IDE Interface

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2.2.2 C++ :
C++ is a general-purpose programming language that was developed as an
extension of the C programming language with additional features. It was created
by Bjarne Stroustrup and first released in 1983. C++ is widely used for developing
a variety of software applications, including system software, game development,
embedded systems, and high-performance applications.
In the context of the Arduino IDE, C++ refers to the programming language
used for writing code for Arduino microcontrollers. Arduino, being an open-source
electronics platform, allows developers to write sketches (programs) for their
Arduino boards using the Arduino IDE. The Arduino programming language is
essentially a simplified version of C++.
In Arduino, programs are commonly referred to as "sketches" . A sketch is written
in the Arduino programming language, which is based on C++. Arduino sketches
typically consist of two main functions: setup() for initialization and loop() for the
main program execution.

2.2.3 TMRPCM Library:

The TMRPCM library for Arduino is used to play WAV audio files directly from an
SD card. It offers asynchronous playback, meaning your program can continue
running other tasks while the audio plays. it is worthy mention The SD library it is
must be included in the code (as auxiliary library) to allow Arduino dealing with
SD card.
Like all Arduino Libraries it is most define it before setup function Also to use
it correctly it need to create an object, this is happen by write the name of the
library followed by the type of object needed, in our case it was a music, line 6 in
figure below.

Fig 2.2 the main library in the

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2.3 Hardware Components
In this section we will present the hardware components that are used in this
project.
2.3.1 Arduino Mega 2560:
in general, the Arduino is an open source hardware and software that can make a
user to do effective operation in it. The Arduino is a microcontroller. These
microcontroller devices help in sensing and controlling the objects in the real time
situations and environment. The Arduino MEGA 2560 is designed for projects that
require more I/O lines, more sketch memory and more RAM (4k bytes EEPROM
8k bytes Internal SRAM ) and Up to 16 MIPS Throughput at 16MHz 32 × 8
General Purpose Working Registers With 54 digital I/O pins, 16 analog inputs.

Figure 2.3 Arduino meaga2560

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 2.3.1 ULTRASONIC SENSOR :

The ultrasonic sensor consists of transmitter, receiver and transceiver. The

transmitter convert electrical signal into sound waves. The receiver converts the
sound waves into electrical signal again. The transceiver performs both the
receiver and transmitter operations.
The trigger Pin sends out an ultrasonic signal out on starting the sensor. The
signal on encounter of an obstacle, returns the signal. This signal is captured by the
echo terminal of the USs. Based on the time taken by the signal to travel from the
trigger and back after hitting the obstacle, is used to calculate the distance.

The Ulitrasonic must connect to four Arduino pins as all device almost. one
pin to 5V and other to GND and the remaining terminal echo and trigger must
connect to output and input pin in order

Figure 2.4 (a) Ultrasoinc Figure 2.4(b) Ultrasonic methodology

2.3.2 Lm386 LM 386 audio amplifier:

It is a popular audio amplifier integrated circuit (IC) that is commonly used to
amplify audio signals in electronic projects, including those involving Arduino. It's
a low voltage, low power amplifier designed for use in low powerconsumer
applications. Typically operates on a voltage range of 4V to 12V and delivers up to
325mW of output power, which is suitable for small speakers. The LM386 is
simple to use and provides a convenient solution for amplifying audio signals from
microphones , sensors, or other sources.

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 The LM386 have four terminal that must connect to the microcontroller .as
follow, Vcc terminal to microcontroller Vcc or to external power supply, all GND
pins on the module should be connected together and then connected to the
Arduino's GND pin and your power to the microcontroller Ground pin , The IN
terminal must Connect to Arduino PWM pin (e.g, pin 5 ,6 ,11 on Arduino Mega).

Figure 2.5

2.3.3 Speaker (3w,4ohm):

equipment that is designed to convert electrical signals into sound waves. Speakers
are used in a wide variety of applications, including audio systems, computers,
televisions, and smartphones. In our project it must connect to the output side of
LM386 module as the figure below.

Figure 2.6(a) speaker figure 2.6(b) speaker connection

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2.3.4 Micro SD card module
The module (MicroSD Card Adapter) is a Micro SD card reader module. It used
for transferring data to and from a standard SD card. The pin out is directly
compatible with Arduino and also can be used with other microcontrollers. It allow
us to add mass storage and data logging to our project.
The Basic Connections of this adapter :
Power:
VCC: Connect to your device's 3.3V or 5V power rail, depending on the module's
specifications.
GND: Connect to your device's ground pin.
SPI communication:
SCK (SPI Clock): Connect to the SPI
clock pin of your device.
MOSI (Master Out Slave In): Connect to the
SPI Master Out Slave In pin of your device.
MISO (Master In Slave Out): Connect to
the SPI Master In Slave Out pin of your device.
CS (Chip Select): Connect to a digital pin
on your device that you can use to select the
micro SD card.

Figure 2.7 micro SD Adpater

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2.3.5 micro SD card :
A microSD card is a small removable flash memory card used for storing data. It is
a type of Secure Digital (SD) card, and is the smallest form factor of SD cards
available. microSD cards are commonly used in mobile phones, cameras, handheld
game systems, and other portable devices.

Figure 2.8

2.3.6 Jumper Wire:

The jump wires are also known as jumper wire used to connect devices. Without
soldering we can make an easier connection with devices. These are available as a
set of wire that has the pin on both sides. These wires are used as making their one
end connecting to the corresponding device and another end to the breadboard.

Figure 2.9

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2.3.7 Bread board:
A bread board is a thin plastic board used to hold electronic components. It
is used to build and test circuits quickly before finalizing any kind of circuit. Bread
board contain large number of holes in which the components like ICs, resistors,
etc. are inserted. A common bread board is shown below.

Figure 2.10

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[1] World Blind Union (2009). White cane safety day. World Blind Union, Press release, October,
Canada

[2] J. D. Armstrong, (1975) Evaluation of man-machine systems in the mobility of the visual
handicapped. Human Factors in Health Care R.M. Pickett and T. J. Trigg’s Eds. Lexington Book,
Massachusetts

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