Voice assisted navigation system for the blind

Motorized accidents on many motorways are caused by sudden braking. Sudden braking occurs because of the distance between the driver and the obstacles in front that are too short, and the driving speed is too high, there is a delay in braking and a surge of force. Supposedly, vehicle motion when braking occurs must comply with the physics principle of following the kinematics concept of non-uniform motion slowing down between the driver with obstacles in front, and the concept of non-uniform circular motion slowing down on the wheels of a motorized vehicle. For this reason, an automatic braking instrumentation system is created using the principle of non-uniform motion slowing down and nonuniform circular motion slowing down, with distance and speed variables obtained from the proximity sensor and the speed sensor mounted on a motorized vehicle. The study began by conducting the first is characterization of the braking system of a motorcycle engine as a whole. Next, conducting a literature study from information obtained in the field. Next, conducting an appropriate braking control system study. Next, braking control system manufacturing and modeling mathematical as well as applications on motorbike vehicles. Next, tests are carried out in open fields and on the road starting from the engine starting the engine and moving forward until it stops again after braking. The braking control system development approach that is being carried out is the application of digital technology by balancing the needs of motorcyclists. This is done so that there is no gap between the needs of motorcyclists and the technology applied. In general, the technology applied includes the main parts, the controller unit as microcontroller, distance measuring unit use ultrasonic sensor, and speed sensor use hall effect sensor, servo as mechanical drive automatic brakes, and battery as power source. The units were developed according to the real conditions, and from the results of measurements of the effect of distance to deceleration by 93 percent.

Shoes for blind man help or assist optically handicapped person to reach their respective terminus. It presents a working conceptual model a concept to provide a clever automated wearable device for blind people. The structure is proposed to offer overall solutions which include artificial vision and object detection. Ultrasonic sensors help in calculating distance of the hurdles lying in the path of blind person. This device help in providing best available track to the user in the form of audio. The sensors are integrated with the shoe so that the blind person can not only detect obstacles in front but also detect the presence of any major pits on the way. Also it contains a panic button which can send SMS alerts in the case of emergency. The hardware consists of Arduino Lilypad based embedded system, ultrasonic sensors, IR sensor, GSM modem, Audio playback board with speaker/headphone. The voice output is generated by an Audio Processor using APR9600 module which can store, record and playback 8 different messages. These messages can be modified according to the user’s convenience and language preference.

PURPOSE: Partial nephrectomy is the preferred method for managing small renal masses. This procedure has significant advantages over radical nephrectomy. However, partial nephrectomy is under-used due to its difficulty. We propose a navigation system for laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. In this study, we evaluate the usability and accuracy of the navigation system. METHODS: An electromagnetically tracked navigation system for partial nephrectomy was developed. This system tracks the positions of the laparoscopic scissors, ultrasound probe, tumor, and calyces and vasculature. Phantom kidneys were created using mixtures of plastisol and cellulose. To test the system, the navigation display quality was measured through measurement of lag and frames per second displayed. The accuracy of the system was determined through fiducial registration. Finally, a study consisting of ten participants was conducted to assess the usability of the navigation system using the System Usability Survey. RESULTS: The mean System Usability Score of the navigation system was 82.5. The navigation display had an average lag of 243 milliseconds and showed 5 frames per second. The accuracy was measured with fiducial registration and found to have an RMS error of 2.84 mm. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the partial nephrectomy navigation system developed is both usable and accurate. Future work will include the conversion of the laparoscopic scissor tool tracking to optical. Further studies will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of this technology in tumor resection and avoidance of calyx and vasculature damage. We will additionally explore this system as a training tool.

The intelligent devices have taken us to a convenient and fashionable era, however while we use a pedometer to calculate the number of steps, the blind even do not have the ability to walk independently. There is no doubt that they are eager for convenience and freedom, based on this, this article proposes an intelligent system that assists the blind in walking. The system consists of a crutch and a bracelet. The crutch can detect the obstacles in front with ultrasonic sensors which working direction is controlled by stepper motors and angle sensor. The bracelet would vibrate when the obstacles are detected to prompt the user. Furthermore, the Sensors on the bracelet can detect a blind man's fall, if the blind can't stand up in time, the bracelet would automatically make a voice to passers-by for help. The bracelet is equipped with GPS and 4G terminals, so position and need of the blind can be both sent to his family. By testing, the system can recognize obstacles such as pedestrians, trees, bricks and so on. The proper environment to use are also identified.

Aiming at the problems of traditional tracking, such as difficulty in deployment, low flexibility and high cost, this paper proposes and designs an automatic cruising car based on UWB positioning technology. The car adopts the Raspberry Pi 3B module as the core control unit, obtains the position through the UWB module, acquires the azimuth of the vehicle through the MPU9250 module, detects the obstacles in front through the ultrasonic sensor, and uses the incremental PID control algorithm to track the specified path. Different from the traditional way of laying magnetic needles and printing guide lines, position coordinate information is introduced in this design, and a series of coordinate points are used as the guiding path of the trolley. Tests show that the designed car can complete the function of automatic cruising according to the specified path, which has certain practical application value.

Researchers are currently conducting several studies in the field of navigation systems and sensors. Even in the past, there was a lot of research regarding the field of velocity sensors for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). UUVs have various services and significance in the military, scientific research, and many commercial applications due to their autonomy mechanism. So, it’s very crucial for the proper maintenance of the navigation system. Reliable navigation of unmanned underwater vehicles depends on the quality of their state determination. There are so many navigation systems available, like position determination, depth information, etc. Among them, velocity determination is now one of the most important navigational criteria for UUVs. The key source of navigational aids for different deep-sea research projects is water currents. These days, many different sensors are available to monitor the UUV’s velocity. In recent times, there have been five primary types of sensors utilized for UUV velocity forecasts. These include Doppler Velocity Logger sensors, paddlewheel sensors, optical sensors, electromagnetic sensors, and ultrasonic sensors. The most popular sensing sensor for estimating velocity at the moment is the Doppler Velocity Logger (DVL) sensor. DVL sensor is the most fully developed sensor for UUVs in recent years. In this work, we offer an overview of the field of navigation systems and sensors (especially velocity) developed for UUVs with respect to their use with tidal current sensing in the UUV setting, including their history, evolution, current research initiatives, and anticipated future.

Frequency-modulated ultrasound signals like chirp-signals show variations in phase at the different transmission angles. Analyzing the phase of ultrasound chirp-echoes enables to accurately determine distance and polar angle to the point of reflection. Though single piezoceramic ultrasound transducers have a small bandwidth, an ultrasound transducer made of a combination of piezoceramic elements with different resonance frequencies as presented in this work enables transmission of broadband chirp- signals and shows the required rotational symmetry. Frequency-modulated chirp-signals transmitted by ultrasound sensors with broad bandwidth show different variations in phase at different directions of the radiated sound pattern. With the phase information of the echo signal it is possible to determine the angle of the point of reflection with respect to the main transmission direction of the ultrasound transducer, representing the polar angle in a spherical coordinate system with the main transmission direction being the z axis. Processing the frequency-modulated chirp-signal by use of a correlation algorithm delivers high accuracy of the distance measurement. Using only one ultrasound transducer transmitting a broadband signal and assuming rotational symmetry, we get the distance and one of the two angles needed to exactly determine the 3D coordinates of the reflection point, instead of getting only the distance like in other known systems. Off the shelf ultrasound transducers for air applications are based on different technologies, like electrostatic transducers, PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride) transducers, piezoceramic and piezocomposite transducers. Although typical constructions of electrostatic transducers are not well suited for industrial environment, many air ultrasound applications are based on this transducer type producing high sound pressure amplitudes by simultaneous small power consumption. Though electrostatic transducers have also an advantageous broad bandwidth, they are not appropriate to be used for polar angle measurements, because they still cannot be produced with a good rotational symmetry. The only air ultrasound transducers that show appropriate rotational symmetry are piezoceramic transducers. Piezoceramic transducers have a narrow bandwidth and are driven most effectively at their geometry-dependent resonance frequencies.

This paper proposes a novel approach for estimating the navigation states of land vehicles in GNSS denied environment by integrating low-cost multiple ultrasonic sensors with the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) using Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). These multiple ultrasonic sensors act as an aiding by providing the vehicle forward velocity to limit the INS large drift during GNSS signal outages. Ultrasonic sensors are installed on the left and right rear wheels to measure the range difference between the sensor and the spokes of the wheel to determine the angular velocity and then determine the vehicle forward velocity. As the ultrasonic raw data is contaminated with outliers and noise, outliers' removal is applied, and a moving average filter is used to reduce the noise. Two experimental road tests were performed for low velocity (30 km/hr) and moderate vehicle velocity (50 km/hr). Ultrasonic sensors were integrated with GNSS/INS in loosely coupled integration scheme through EKF. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of the velocity estimated by the ultrasonic sensors was 0.28 m/sec. Moreover, the position RMSE enhanced from 101.18 meters for the case of INS standalone navigation solution to 5.07 meters when INS integrated with ultrasonic sensors for GNSS signal outage of 60 seconds in the first test. The RMSE of the position is decreased to 17.99 meters in case of ultrasonic/INS integration navigation solution compared to INS standalone solution with RMSE of 72.43 meters for an outage of 60 seconds in the second test. The proposed multiple ultrasonic system provides the land vehicle navigation solution with forward velocity update with higher accuracy and data rate than the velocity provided by regular odometer of On-Board Diagnostics (OBD II).

Indonesian Abu Robot Contest (KRAI) in 2018 with the theme "Throwing a Blessing Ball". The main purpose of this robot is to be able to navigate automatically in an area that is bordered by walls to complete the mission. The main problem with the robot is the navigation system. The application of PID control in the wall following system has been able to make robot movements smooth, responsive, and fast. In this study, PID control aims to smooth the movement of the robot while walking along the wall in the race arena. The PID parameter is obtained from the results of tuning with the trial and error method, the values of KP = 3, KI = 0, and KD = 5. At the PWM 150 set point the value of the ultrasonic sensor distance reading to the object in the form of a wall with an average error of 4.4. cm. At the PWM 200 set point the value of the ultrasonic sensor distance reading to the object in the form of a wall with an average error of 0.4 cm. At the PWM 250 set point the value of the ultrasonic sensor distance reading to the object in the form of a wall with an average error of 0.8 cm. This error does not have an effect on the performance of the wall following system, because the system only uses the distance value reading data with a decimal value in front of the comma. So it can be concluded that the wall following system which is designed using ultrasonic sensors with measurement error that occurs is zero.

The aim of our study was to evaluate MRI/Ultrasonography fusion accuracy depending on three ultrasonographic parameters. An ultrasonography and MRI compatible model was created, consisting of a plastic box, which contained 3 objects. MRI scans were performed with 128 sagittal slices. The objects were segmented and 3D reconstructions were created. A special ultrasound adapter with 3 reflective markers was fixed to the ultrasound probe. Thus, the probe could be tracked by the navigation system (Vector Vision(2), BrainLab, Heimstetten, Germany) and the segmented shape of the 3D-objects obtained from the MR images were overlaid onto the ultrasound display (Elegra, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany). The dependency of fusion accuracy on different depth of ultrasound display, different distances between probe and objects and different angles between the axis of the ultrasound probe and the centre of the spheres was evaluated. 435 single measurements were performed. Overall fusion accuracy was 1.08 mm+/-0.61 mm (mean +/- standard deviation) for spheres and 1.6 mm+/-1.1 mm for arrow heads. If the ultrasound probe was directed more tangentially to the surface of the spheres the fusion became increasingly inaccurate (P<0.05). Fusion accuracy decreased the more distant the US probe was held to the object (P<0.05). Different depth of ultrasound display had no significant effect on fusion accuracy. Highly accurate fusion of MR images and real-time ultrasonography could be achieved. However, careful interpretation of the fused data is necessary, when different angles and distances of the US probe to the object are concerned.

This current work offers the experimental method which is capable of measuring the air-methane gas using L-wave by an ultrasound sensor in a constant volume chamber (CVC). For experimental method, a constant volume chamber is integrated with of a high-sensitive ultrasound sensor, a conventional ultrasound sensor, a non-resistance cable, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor and two mounted zigs. The main conditions, for the experiment defined in this work, are composed of 2 bar of initial pressure, 296 K of temperature, air-CH4 mixture of gas fuel, 25 V of input voltage, 3 Hz of pulse rate and 0.2-2 of measurement distance (m) for two different ultrasonic sensors. The resonant frequency is set 67.6, 70.6, 73.6 and 76.6 kHz by adjusting wavelength inside the circuit system. It is shown that sensitivity in ethylene vinyl acetate matching layer (EVAM) type is remarkably increased comparing with the chemical wood matching layer (CWM) type. Moreover, in comparison to the conventional CWM type, the amplitude height of EVAM type shows 1.19 V at 1st, 1.05 V at 2nd, 0.63 V of 3rd, 0.40 V at 4th and 0.27 V at 5th in CVC. With regards to the average percentage, the EVAM type is shown up to 116, 250, 270,263 and 350 % for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th comparing with the conventional. Consequently, the voltage characteristics improved by EVAM type layer is demonstrated that energy transfer is higher than CWM type in CVC and efficiently led to increasing the ultrasonic sensitivity in an air-methane mixture.

Three-dimensional digital ultrasound imaging system for surgical navigation

Optical fiber sensing technologies are expected to apply for many future electronic control systems in automobiles, because of their original outstanding features, such as high noise immunity, high heat resistance, and flexible light propagation paths which can be applicable to measure the movements and directions of the mobiles. In this paper, two typical applications of fiber sensing technologies in automobiles have been described in detail. The combustion flame detector is one of the typical applications of a fiber spectroscopic technology which utilizes the feature of high noise and heat resistibility and remote sensibility. Measurements of engine combustion conditions, such as the detonation, the combustion initiation, and the air-fuel ratio, have been demonstrated in an experimental fiber sensing method. Fiber interferometers, such as a fiber gyroscope, have a lot of possibilities in future mobile applications because they are expandable to many kinds of measurements for movements and physical variables. An optical fiber gyroscope utilizing the single polarized optical fiber and optical devices has been developed. Quite an accurate measurement of vehicle position was displayed on a prototype navigation system which installed the fiber gyroscope as a rotational speed sensor.

There are industrial requirements for instrumentation of two and three component flows. The authors present an investigation into an ultrasound transducer suitable for determining gas concentration. A pair of ultrasound transducers are positioned opposite to each other, one on either side of the flow pipe. The transmitter is excited by pulses of power and pulsed ultrasound beams pass through the acoustic cavity between transmitter and receiver. The beam is randomly modulated in both amplitude and phase by either turbulent eddies in single phase fluids or suspended particles in two phases flows (e.g. sand in solid/liquid mixture, air bubbles in air/water mixture). The peak values of the output signal from the receiver are measured by a peak detector and, after time averaging, are functionally related to the concentration of the discontinuous phase. The main advantage of pulsed ultrasound sensors compared with the continuous wave (CW) ultrasound sensors is the avoidance of the deleterious effect of standing waves which occur in the acoustic cavity between transducers when CW is used. Therefore simpler and more reliable measurement systems can be built.

In the last decades, the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on transportation systems radically changed them, identifying in the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) a new research area. A problem often addressed in ITS is vehicle routing, for which plenty of solutions have been already defined in literature. Vehicle routing problems are usually NP hard, therefore these are mainly heuristic solutions. A requirement for them is to be deployed and run in navigation systems, ready to react to sudden changes in a (quasi) real-time way. Hence, to reduce the latency is still an open issue, not only depending on the complexity of the solution but also on other parameters, such as the traffic update latency in traffic-aware vehicle routing. A way to solve them is by exploiting distributed, collaborative approaches, establishing a proper collaboration platform and algorithms able to use it. Mobile Crowdsensing, on the one hand, and collective and swarm intelligence approaches, on the other, can fill this gap. This paper is a first attempt in this direction, aiming at defining a new class of (swarm) the Intelligent Transportation Systems (SITS), on top of a crowdsourcing-based infrastructure.