IRJET- Virtual Eye for Blind- A Multi Functionality Interactive Aid using Pi

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 06 Issue: 05 | May 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.211 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 5503
Virtual Eye for Blind- A Multi Functionality Interactive Aid using Pi
Arathi T R1, Adarsh J M2, Aparna V S3, Sreepriya C K4, Lija Thomas5
1,2,3,4Student, Dept. of Electronics and Communication Engineering, MACE, Kerala, India
5Assistant Professor, Dept. of Electronics and Communication Engineering, MACE, Kerala, India
---------------------------------------------------------------------***----------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract - Being able to live independently is everyone’s
goal but there are many people among us who are
incapable to live independently just because they aren’t
gifted with the senses a normal person have. We propose a
design that enables the blind to perceive the world in a way
very much similar to a normal person but without the help
of eyes, by enhancing the effectiveness of the senses they
have, with the aid of technology, to sense the surroundings
and to make sudden reflexes. Conventional white canes
simply detect obstacles at a certain distance with the help of
ultrasonic sensors, but don’t give information about the type
of situational surrounding they are in or how to counter
sudden unexpected obstacles. Our proposal consists of
various subsystems including Radar, GPS, vocal system and
IR Camera. An interactive vocal assistance integrated with
the GPS directs the person through the route with the audio
signals. The model is equipped with a microphone and
speaker which is connected to the main system – a
Raspberry pi. The radar subsystem helps the person to
picturize the real time surrounding info. The IR camera
identifies ditches along the way even in the dark. The 3 main
goals of our system are (1) enable easy and smooth
movement of the person between two places, by giving
directions to the destination in the shortest possible way (2)
alert the blind about ditches or pits (3) inform them about
the real time dangers like approaching vehicle and provide
a proper response to counter it.
Key Words: Doppler Frequency, GPS, RADAR,
Raspberry pi, Doppler Frequency, VEB.
1. INTRODUCTION
The 5 senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste) works
in unison to provide the human mind with the real time
information of the surroundings and this info is processed
to help the body in initiating the necessary action. The 5
fundamental senses are so important that if any one of the
system fails to function, smooth and normal functioning is
hindered, in short the persons ability to live independently
is reduced. And so we have to compliment this with
sufficient systems that can balance the function. Many
systems have come into being to serve helpful to the
visually impaired and the blind from the traditional white
canes to some of the modern alternatives like the sound
view and the UltraCane.
1.1 Proposed Design
Fig -1: Block Diagram
The proposed system VEB (Virtual Eye for Blind) consists
of 3 subsystems and 2 auxiliary systems, which can also be
further enhanced with add on systems. The 3 main sub
systems are the IR camera for pit detection while walking,
GPS system for navigating between the source and the
destination[1][2][4]and the RADAR system for moving
target identification. The Auxiliary system includes the
ultrasound obstacle detection, water sensor for puddle
detection. The outputs from all the systems are analyzed
and processed by the raspberry pi based on various
programs and the results are converted to an appropriate
voice signal which is notified to the person through the
microphone (warning or a counter action) .The person can
input the destination to which he/she has to reach as voice
commands itself.
2. DEVELOPEMENT
VEB comprises of a versatile hardware section controlled
by the raspberry pi on which the standard Raspbian
operating system runs.
Raspberry pi
GPS
syste
RADAR
Water
Sensor
Speaker
&
microphone
Power
supply
Night
vision
camer

2.1 Raspberry Pi
The pi model that is used is the Raspberry pi 3Bplus. It is a
single board computer with 1.4 GHz 64-bit quad-core
processor, 1GB RAM, integrated 802.11n wireless LAN,
and Bluetooth 4.1, 40 pin populated GPIO header, HDMI,
3.5mm analogue audio-video jack, 4× USB 2.0, Ethernet,
Camera Serial Interface (CSI) and Display Serial Interface
(DSI).The OS image of the latest Raspbian Stretch OS is
written on to a class 10 microSD card (minimum of 8
GB,16 GB preferred) .
Connect the Pi board with a display and a keyboard to to
use it as a mini computer. The Raspbian Stretch is loaded
which provide with us platforms to code. Raspbian is a
free operating system based on Debian optimized for the
Raspberry Pi hardware. Raspbian provides more than a
pure OS: it comes with over 35,000 packages, pre-
compiled software bundled in a nice format for easy
installation on your Raspberry Pi. Raspbian
comes preloaded with Python, the official programming
language of the Raspberry Pi and IDLE 3, a Python
Integrated Development Environment. So we use python
for programming.
Fig 2. Raspberry pi 3 B plus
2.2 Pi Camera 5MP
We provide sight to the blind with the help of the
Raspberrypi PiCamera connected to the board through the
CSI port. The main purpose of which is to identify ditches,
stairs, pits, road boundaries. The 5 MP camera analyses
the depth information to compare it with a similar
attribute .xml file in the program to identify the structures.
For 24x7 usage the camera can be operated in night vision
mode with a camera view angle of 160 degrees, tilted
slightly towards the ground, camera can lock on to these
structures pretty easy. Once stairs are locked, the
audio/speaker unit (Bluetooth headphones) connected to
the pi gives out appropriate voice output to counter what
is at hand. In case of pit detection, the surrounding areas
are also analyzed with a simple heuristic approach, and
directions/navigations to counter the pit is given (like
move right and left).Alert message for stairs and border
lines for roads can also be given in the similar way.
Fig 3. Night Vision Pi camera
2.3 GPS Module
Another one of the feature of VEB is a simple navigation
system that aids the person in moving freely between
places. The routes can be mapped and used offline. Maps
provided by Openstreetmap can be used to map the
route.(Anyone can add places or modify the map) A GPS
module is used to get the coordinates of the present
location which is loaded on the map. The destination to
which the person has to reach, can be input into the map
by audio signal, which is also locked on the map.
According to the preset routes the directions are given as
in the case of the camera. The GPS Module used for
fulfilling this functionality is UBLOX NEO 6M-0-001,
interfaced via RS232 TTL and has a baud rate of 9600bps.
The NEO-6M GPS module is a well-performing complete
GPS receiver with a built-in 25 x 25 x 4mm ceramic
antenna, which provides a strong satellite search
capability.
Fig 4. UBLOX NEO 6M-0-001 GPS Module
2.4 RADAR module
High speed moving targets like vehicles are always a
challenge even for people with full health and eye sight. So

the threat posed by them at large for the blind and
insecurity while walking down the road and crossing
doors are of concern. Moving targets can be identified by
the Doppler shift radars that can understand the rate of
approach of a vehicle in a more efficient way, by analyzing
the shift in the frequency. The fields around the person is
subdivided to various critical zone to notify the person of
the approaching vehicle in a efficient way. The HB100
microwave modules can be used. The range can be
adjusted by connecting an appropriate amount of
resistance. SEN0192 is a digital microwave sensor with
HB100 at its core which is much more user friendly can
also be used.
Ultrasonic sensors can be used to detect obstacles, with
which the zone division strategy is easier[6]. But for speed
and directional information much more analysis is needed.
(a)
(b)
Fig 5.(a) HB100 microwave modules,
(b) SEN0192
The modules mentioned are connected to the
Raspberrypi through various ports. These modules mainly
as a input devices which gives the perception of the real
world .we aid the blind in their decision making in various
scenarios via a Bluetooth headphone or even a wired one
(as pi board is provided with an audio jack. But for more
comfortable usage a wireless Bluetooth headphone cum
microphone is preferred. Prerecorded voice notes are
fetched by the program in accordance to the outputs from
each of the modules. The program calls the respective
voice notes give it to the audio section which is coupled by
the Bluetooth technology. The module can also take in
voice inputs to map it to a co ordinate loaded into the
make for destinations to reach.
The pi is powered by a rechargeable power supply, which
then drives the whole system. The radar consumes more
power so it is controlled by a manual switch, which can be
switched on at the time of need (like during crossing
roads).
Further modifications like including water sensors for
puddle detection, alerting surrounding community with
LED strips, Remote access to the stick ,security locks.
3. CHALLENGES
This paper is a preliminary stage that has wider scopes
for development at the same time being the initial stage, it
is also tied together with some challenges. one being the
accuracy and accessibility of the GPS[7]. The correct co
ordinates of the place can only be accessed under a clear
sky, preferably with area with less number of tall
buildings, which is not always guaranteed. Second is that
only pits or poth holes of considerable depths can be
accurately detected by the camera.
Another improvement needed is in the excessive power
consumed by the radar. A technology that can harness
enough energy for the combined working of the system
with the element of renewability would quench an extent
of limitations.
4. CONCLUSION
We proposed a design that enables the blind to perceive
the world in a way very much similar to a normal person.
Technology has forever done its part in improving human
lives and this is just a simple example. The scope of this
system is not limited to what is presented in this paper.
Similar technologies have developed during these past
years which can bring this the next level.
REFERENCES
[1] Akhila S, Disha M Rani, Divyashree,Varshini S S ,”
Smart Stick for Blind using Raspberry pi ”,ICACT
2016conference proceedings .
[2] Nilima Sahoo, Hung-Wei Lin , Yeong Hwa Chang
”Design and Implementation of a Walking Stick Aid for
Visually Challenged People” , IEEE International
Conference on Applied System Invention
(ICASI),2018.
[3] Qian Lu, “Feasibility Study of a Smart Aid for the
Visually Impaired and Blinds Independent Mobility in
Outdoor Environments” (Book style) 2018 June.
[4] M Vanitha, A Rajeev, K Elangovan, S Vinoth Kumar, “A
Smart Walking Stick for Visually Impaired using
Raspberrypi” International Journal of pure and
applied mathematics, Vol 119, 2018.

[5] P Pydi Sai Charan, Ambati Nikhil, Itla Sneha Mounika,
V Shyam Sandeep, Ganta Haswanth Kumar, Mahboob
Baig, “Vehicle Speed Detection and Collision Avoider
Radar(VSDCAR),” IJRET,vol 05 issue 02,Feb 2018.
[6] Ayush Wattal, Ashutosh Ojha, Manoj Kumar, “
Obstacle Detection for Visually Impaired using
Raspberrypi and Ultrasonic Sensors,” National
Conference on Product Design, July 2016.
[7] Amany El Gouhary, Richard Wells, Anthony
Thather,”GPS Tracking System”, April 2006.

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