Blind Man Stick Using Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC)

It is well known that people suffering from visual impairments face many difficulties in travelling independently. Due to this, they rely on some form of external aids, which include a variety of tools and techniques like a stick. Such tools are called Electronic Travel Aids (ETA). Sometimes even with the use of this stick, the safety of the blind person is not guaranteed. The stick may not always detect all the obstacles in the path.. The objective of this project is to build a blind man stick that can detect obstacles, potholes and thus help the blind person travel independently. The system is constructed using ultrasonic sensors, a Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC 16F877A) that has an On-chip Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), a vibrator, buzzer and a power supply. The software used in this system includes Embedded ‘C’, Pickit 2 Programmer, MPLAB.