Final Design

Overview

Designing a navigational aid for Kimberly, a 59-year-old woman with Usher's Syndrome, was the goal of the Power in Community project. Her capacity to move around and engage with her surroundings is restricted by this illness, which results in severe hearing and visual loss. Even though she lives alone, Kimberly struggles with movement and needs support from her cane and her phone for visual upgrades. However, because of her visual impairments and the difficulty with her hearing aids, using a phone is difficult. Thus, the project's main goal was to develop a hands-free, highly contrasted, and user-friendly aid that would enable her to independently find necessary items and explore new areas.

The end product is the Smart Cane, a Bluetooth-enabled gadget that is built into Kimberly's mobility cane and will use sound cues to assist her in finding essential items nearby. With a total cost of less than $100, the project was successfully finished with a heavy emphasis on price, guaranteeing that the gadget was both practical and affordable. Kimberly's everyday life may be greatly enhanced by the Smart Cane's design, which would increase her independence and reduce her dependency on her phone and other support.

                               Time line of project (Feb 10th 2025 - Apr 4th 2024)

Summary

Kimberly's 90% hearing loss, eyesight impairment (no night vision, inability to discern low contrast colors), and desire to avoid relying on her phone were all taken into consideration when designing the Smart Cane. Our team created a hands-free gadget that would enable her to find misplaced objects by simply touching a button on her cane after iterative talks and concept refining. By pressing the button, a Bluetooth speaker that plays a nice tune that is meant to be heard without disturbing her hearing aids is activated. For a prototype form, the device was made lightweight (weighing only 0.5 kg) and fastened to the cane firmly with zip ties; however, more permanent and aesthetically acceptable fastenings may be used in future versions.

The gadget worked well during testing, with a 10-meter range and little background noise. Kimberly's input and the testing stage also assisted in improving the design, making sure the gadget satisfied her aesthetic, usability, and comfort standards. Additionally, the final prototype was constructed with readily accessible parts including Arduino UNO boards, wireless communication nRF24L01 modules, and a basic push button, all of which kept the device's cost around $100, making it both affordable and useful. Future enhancements will include improved button mounting options, as well as improvements to the power supply and audio output systems.

Skills

💻 Coding

🤝 Collaboration

📆 Time Management

🤔 Critical Thinking

🖨️ 3D Printing

⌨️ CAD Modelling

Design Process

Problem framing: The first step was to identify Kimberly's unique demands, which included avoiding her phone, requiring a hands-free gadget, and making sure the gadget worked alongside her hearing aids.
Conceptual Design: A number of concepts were taken into consideration, such as wearing sensors, a bracelet, and a sensor cane. The idea of a Bluetooth-enabled cane with an object-location button was selected following iterative feedback.
Initial Prototyping: A bracelet-based prototype was used at the start of the design process, but it was soon scrapped because of Kimberly's discomfort and the possibility of misplacing it. Kimberly had also mentioned how she does not like bracelets so we took that into account.
Refinement: The design was modified in response to user feedback and practicality. The button and Bluetooth speaker were included into a non-bulky, comfortable design that was fastened to the cane.
Testing: A number of tests were conducted, including ones for weight, comfort, durability, range, and ambient noise levels. The gadget was within budget and satisfied the design specifications.