Design and Implementation of a White-Cane Based on the Vibration-Distance Sensing Technique for Blind People

In this work the design and implementation of a white-cane suitable for blind people is presented. The sensing method is based on the relation distance/vibration; the closer the object, the faster is the vibration magnitude. The magnitude of this vibration is passed by four micro DC motors into the fingers of the user, indicating the proximity to the object and its localization. The vibration on the index, middle, ring, and baby fingers are used to indicate the position to the left, front, front, and left, respectively. The proximity sensors are located on a 3-D printed phantom model glasses, enabling the capability of sensing the whole environment in a 360° fashion by means of only moving the head in any direction. Stress and deformation simulations of the proposed white-cane were performed in SolidWorks. Also, the overall power consumption of the instrumentation system is only 2.15 W/h, allowing a six hours of continuous use before battery recharge. Also, the whole white-cane weighs 0.54 kg.