1. Tactile Navigation System for the Blind & Visually Impaired (VI) Presented by: Tim Giguere & Tim DeBellis Shannon Carswell & Tim Garvin

2. Problem Statement Objective: Develop a device to aid the VI and blind in navigation throughout a building using a tactile interface. Issues Faced: ◦Campus and Classroom navigation ◦Predominate use of memory for navigation ◦Current market technology unreliable and expensive This is a combination of two Senior Design Projects: ◦Intra-Building Navigation ◦Tactile Interface

3. Intra-Building Navigation: Functional Decomposition

4. Intra-building Navigation: Concept Generation Navigate Building Interface Directions Input Destination Read Location of User Generate Directions Track Location Tag Id’sGPS Location Verify Location Ultrasound Readings IR Signature RFIDGPSIRUltrasound SoundDigital Display Tactile Display Braille Display CompassMapPiece by Piece Direct. Compass and Map RFIDGPSIRUltrasound KeypadVoiceBrailleAutomatic- read schedule

5. Intra-Building Navigation: Concept Selection Step #1 Screening RFIDIRWeb Dog (REF) 2 RFID tags RFID and IR Aug. GPS RFID and Compass Selection Criteria Availability of parts+++D++-+ Distance000 00+0 Cost of parts++-A++0+ Size+++ ++++ Accuracy++0T++++ Ease of Integration+++ ++++ Cost of upkeep+++U++++ Sum + 's6.00 4.00 6.00 5.006.00 Sum 0's1.00 2.00M1.00 Sum -'s001 0010 Net Score663 6646 Rank113 1121 Continue? YES NODATUMYES NOYES

6. Intra-Building Navigation: Concept Selection

7. Intra-Building Navigation: Selected Concept RFID Technology ◦Place passive tags throughout the building to identify locations ◦Use the reader to track location of user ◦Develop navigation algorithm to produce directions between user and desired location Compass ◦Provide initial bearing to produce accurate directions

8. Intra-Building Navigation: RFID Testing and Results Test Procedure: ◦Initial Read Range  USB  Power Supply ◦Surface ◦Height Placement ◦Engineering Specifications  Accurate Directions  Repeatability ◦ Directions ◦ Location Identification  Latency  Mean Learning Time

9. Intra-Building Navigation: Interface

10. Intra-Building Navigation: Navigation ‘Hybrid’ Algorithm ◦Graph Traversal ◦Area Navigation B A C

11. Intra-Building Navigation: Navigation ‘Hybrid’ Algorithm ◦Graph Traversal ◦Area Navigation B A C

12. System Integration Develop a tactile interface that blind and VI individuals can use as a personal navigator Device operation: ◦Destination Input ◦Entry to Internal Map comparison ◦Directional information relay to user via tactile means Device operation dependent on customer needs.

13. Customer Needs

14. Mechanical System Design Housing Structure Top and Side walls constructed from HDPE and Garolite plastic. Bottom is rapid-prototyped at RIT Brinkman Lab. Directionality Servo-driven tactile pegs Tactile pegs made of HDPE Proximity Vibration Motor Controlled by pulse width module to output 2 second vibrations

15. Mechanical System Design Analysis Stress Analysis ◦FEA models for compressive load scenarios ◦Servo-arms tested under bending with servo max stall torque. Fatigue Analysis ◦Modified Goodman Criteria applied.  Plastic component stresses applied to research data for fatigue conditions Vibration Analysis of Motor ◦Issue of human exposure levels. ◦5 m/s^2 max for exposure time allowed. ◦From testing, motor reaches between 25 and 55 minutes of constant exposure

16. Electrical System Design Built around an 8-bit PIC C-based microcontroller. Motors controlled by PIC and driven by BJT network. Keypad continuously polled in software, user entry stored in variable length string String will eventually compared to internal map to provide directional info 6V rechargeable NiMH battery

17. Electrical System Design Strategy Individually test components for functionality Prototype system using PIC development kit Create ‘front end’ user inputs Move design to PCB Verify power levels

18. Tactile Team:Navigation Team: Sponsors: Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth DeBartolo Shannon Carswell (EE) Daniel Paris (EE) Tim Garvin (CE) Daniel Stanley (CE) Christian Seemayer (EE) Rob Proietti (ME) William Kelly (ME) Tim DeBellis (EE) Tim Giguere (ME)