Self-Navigating Smart Cane for the Visually Impaired

Article: Stanford Researchers Build $400 Self-Navigating Smart Cane
Source: Stanford University
Published: October 13, 2021
Article: This $400 Cane Uses Autonomous Vehicle Tech to Help Guide The Visually Impaired
Source: ScienceAlert
Published: October 17, 2021 

Augmented Cane, highlighting its motorized, omnidirectional wheel

Engineers at Stanford designed a self-navigating smart cane based on technology used in autonomous vehicles. The Augmented Cane not only helps people with visual impairments to detect obstacles using a LIDAR sensor, but is also equipped with software that controls a motorized wheel mounted at the tip of the cane to gently nudge users through their environment, including to specific destinations. Additionally, the cane relies on GPS to measure position in outdoor settings, an inertial measurement unit (accelerometers, magnetometers, and gyroscopes) to measure the user's position and orientation, and a camera to capture images of the surroundings. In real-world tests, use of the smart cane improved walking speed for visually impaired volunteers by 18% compared to the traditional white cane. For sighted individuals who were blindfolded, use of the smart cane improved walking speed by 35%. This smart cane is also an improvement over other research sensor canes in terms of weight and cost. Weighing only 3 pounds, the cane can be built at home from off-the-shelf parts and free, open-source software for $400. The research paper includes a downloadable parts list and DIY solder-at-home instructions. Although the Augmented Cane is still a research prototype, the researchers welcome input from industry to streamline the design and scale up production to make the smart cane even more affordable. They next plan to make refinements to the project, such as developing a model that uses an everyday smartphone as the processor to broaden access and further drive down cost. Senior author of the study comments, “Our lab is based out of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and it has been thrilling to take some of the concepts we have been exploring and apply them to assist people with blindness.”

My rating of this study: ⭐⭐⭐🌸

Slade P, Tambe A, Kochenderfer MJ, et al. "Multimodal sensing and intuitive steering assistance improve navigation and mobility for people with impaired vision." Science Robotics.  6(59). 13 October 2021. https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abg6594