Special Cane with Visual Odometry for Real-time Indoor Navigation of Blind People

Abstract

Indoor navigation is urgently needed by blind people in their everyday lives. In this paper, we design an assistive cane with visual odometry based on actual requirements of the blind to aid them in attaining safe indoor navigation. Compared to the state-of-the-art indoor navigation systems, the proposed device is portable, compact, and adaptable. The main specifications of the system are: the perception range is respectively from 0.10m to 2.10m, and 0.08m to 1.60m for width and length dimensions; the maximum weight is 2.1kg; the detection range is from 0.15m and 3.00m; the cruising ability is about 8h; and the objects whose heights are below 80cm can be detected. The demo video of the proposed navigation system is available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12399572.v1.