The Journal of Korea Robotics Society (로봇학회논문지)

Korea Robotics Society (한국로봇학회)
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Design of Cane Mechanism for Walking Aid of Visually Impaired Person

시각장애인의 보행 보조를 위한 지팡이 메커니즘 설계

  • Kim, Byoung-Ho (Biomimetics, Robotics and Wellness Lab., Dept. of Mechatronics Eng., Kyungsung University)
  • Received : 2016.02.12
  • Accepted : 2016.04.12
  • Published : 2016.05.31
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Abstract

This paper presents a sensor-based cane mechanism for walking aid of the visually impaired person. We also describe an approach to decide properly the length of the specified cane mechanism. The cane mechanism has some sensors to identify the possibility of a collision between the cane user and an object and/or a person, and a signal processing unit that enables the user to recognize such a collision is attached in the mechanism. Thus, the walker using this cane can recognize in advance the possibility of such a collision in his walking process. Consequently, it is helpful for the visually impaired person to walk on a pedestrian road safely. The feature of the proposed cane mechanism and its availability have been shown through experimental works in a typical walking environment.

Keywords

References

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