The BMA Smart stick targets the less privileged visual impaired. Centralized to the Tanzanian low-cost market it helps blind people avoid danger around them. We are a team of high-school and college students planning to help this market using our technical skills. This smart stick uses a wooden frame as its body, an ultrasonic sensor, a camera for navigation, a raspberry pie (computer), an earpiece, and a vibration motor to guide a blind person. The camera takes feed-in the camera and, using the sound system. tells the blind person using the CV2 object detection software imported on the raspberry pie the environment the person is currently standing in. It also tells the blind person where these objects are divided into in front, left, and right. The ultrasonic sensor gives feedback through the vibratory motor, giving insight on the distance of an object from the person in order to help them not collide into objects.
It was a great experience presenting this and having it implemented on a small scale. It was presented at the annual TechFest that occurred in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. We trained many people on how to make this product by holding a workshop to inspire teenagers in the Dar Es Salaam schools. It was a 3 day-long workshop that educated teenagers on innovation and how to build something like this. We taught them the programming and everything from the Open CV library to the hardware features.
It was surely a great experience working with them and expanding my problem skills.
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