For the Assistive Technology (AT) Project, each group of students has to address a need of a client in their community and create some sort of device to help alleviate this need.
For this project, my group decided to explore issues faced by the visually impaired/blind/low vision community. After talking to representative from the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, MA, we were informed that there was a lack of devices to help Low-Vision individuals detect obstacles above their waist. This meant, that even though individuals with visual impairments can use canes to help them detect obstacles, objects above their waist are still a threat to their safety, since they can't be detected with the cane.
To help aid low vision individuals detect obstacles, my group decided to design a vest that the user can wear. Using an arduino, my group programmed the vest to alert users when they get too close to an object. There is an ultrasonic sensor on the vest that helps to detect how far away approaching objects are. When an object comes within a certain distance of the sensor, the vest alerts the user using either an auditory buzzing sound from a speaker on the vest, or a haptic vibration coming from a vibration motor on the vest. There is also a button on the vest that can be used to switch between auditory and haptic mode.
One can note that the sensors are attatched to the vest by having been placed in small plastic containers. As the chief manufacturing officer (CMO) of this project, I designed these cases (using the dimension specifications of our sensors) in OnShape and then 3D printed them. We then as a group sewed nylon straps onto the vest, slid the cases onto the straps, and then placed the sensors into their respective containers. Below are the CAD sketches of the 3D printed cases we printed out and used in our design.
