Pathfinder for the Visually Impaired People

The paper aims at designing and development of a smart cane which helps in navigation for the visually impaired people. The navigator system designed will detect an object or obstacle using ultrasonic sensors and gives audio instructions for guidance. The proposed navigation system utilizes ultrasonic technology, image processing and voice recognition system for obstacle detection, traffic light sensing and getting audio instructions respectively. Traffic signs recognition is a less studied field and here we are introducing a traffic light recognition system by image processing technique in open CV for the blind person to move freely. The entire system is interfaced in a raspberry pi module. Acquiring positional information and detecting directions outdoor is difficult, we confirm that using this system, positional information and travel direction can be obtained utilizing ultrasonic technology combined with GPS navigation system. The system can also detect potholes on the path.