1. P11017 Tactile Navigation Interface for the Visually-Impaired (VI) and Blind
P11017 Team:
Christian Seemayer
Robert Proietti
Timothy DeBellis
Timothy Giguere
William Kelly
Advisor:
Dr. DeBartolo

2. Today’s Agenda Project Problem Statement
Project Development from Customer Needs
Built System Design
Mechanical
Electrical
Software
Testing Summary
Future Project Developments

3. 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
Predominant use of memory for navigation
Current market technology unreliable and expensive
This is a combination of three Senior Design Projects:
Intra-Building Navigation
Tactile Navigation Interface
Mobile Landmark Identification

4. Customer Needs

5. Original Concept Design

6. 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 MCU to output 1 second vibrations

7. Mechanical System Design
Keypad
Clear bump on “5” button to understand # keys locations.
Orange bumps on side buttons as action keys.
Red rubber bump in bottom right acts as enter key.

8. Mechanical System Design
Attachment Method
Two elastic band straps.
Velcro attached to both at various locations.
Device attaches to user forearm toward elbow.

9. 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

10. 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 compare to internal map to provide directional info
6V rechargeable NiMH battery
Male/Female barrel connectors

11. Electrical System Design
PCB Design
2 Layer Design
Created and manufactured using Express PCB
RIT CEMA soldered surface mount components

12. Software Embedded C software written on to PIC18F8722 microcontroller
Prototyping used PIC DevKit
Functions
Continuously polls keypad to detect user input
Stores user input in string of variable length
Compares input to table of predefined commands
If match occurs, predefined action executed
Current Predefined Actions
Cardinal directions from Servos
Proximity with vibration motor

13. Testing Summary

14. Future Project Developments
Structural Ideas
Switch from Garolite to HDPE for housing wall material.
Addition of metallic threaded inserts
Prevents stripping the plastic threads
Correction of battery gap structural flaw.
Software Ideas
Addition of Button Lock and Sleep Mode
Addition of Cancel Button
Change internal clock to reduce time between inputs
Add indicator for acceptable inputs

15. Future Project Developments
Possible Design Improvements
Research of tubular solenoids instead of servos.
Customized battery and vibration motor to reduce size.
Expanding drawings tolerances to avoid extra machining.
Switch method for creating bottom housing.
Adjustable curvature to provide better fit for user.

16. Future Project Developments
Optimization Ideas
Tactile Peg Locations
Locate optimal locations for pegs to reduce spacing
Creation of two part device
Part on hand and remainder in user pocket.
Reduces size on user forearm, therefore reducing attention drawn to user.
Reduction in device weight.
Wirelessly connected devices
Wi-fi or Bluetooth
Reduces device wiring
Integration with P11016 Intra-Building Navigation Team project.

17. Sponsors: Acknowledgments: National Science Foundation
Dr. Elizabeth Debartolo – Faculty Guide ME Department
Franklin LeGree
Dr. Dorin Patru – EE Professor
Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired
P11016 Navigation Map Team
Dr. Marca Lam-Anderson – ME Professor
Mr. John Bonzo
Dr. Roy Melton – CE Professor
Mr. Jeff Lonneville – CEMA Lab Technician

18. Questions