Young Researcher Paper Award 2023
🥇Winners

Notice of retraction
Vol. 34, No. 8(3), S&M3042

Notice of retraction
Vol. 32, No. 8(2), S&M2292

Print: ISSN 0914-4935
Online: ISSN 2435-0869
Sensors and Materials
is an international peer-reviewed open access journal to provide a forum for researchers working in multidisciplinary fields of sensing technology.
Sensors and Materials
is covered by Science Citation Index Expanded (Clarivate Analytics), Scopus (Elsevier), and other databases.

Instructions to authors
English    日本語

Instructions for manuscript preparation
English    日本語

Template
English

Publisher
 MYU K.K.
 Sensors and Materials
 1-23-3-303 Sendagi,
 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0022, Japan
 Tel: 81-3-3827-8549
 Fax: 81-3-3827-8547

MYU Research, a scientific publisher, seeks a native English-speaking proofreader with a scientific background. B.Sc. or higher degree is desirable. In-office position; work hours negotiable. Call 03-3827-8549 for further information.


MYU Research

(proofreading and recording)


MYU K.K.
(translation service)


The Art of Writing Scientific Papers

(How to write scientific papers)
(Japanese Only)

Sensors and Materials, Volume 33, Number 10(3) (2021)
Copyright(C) MYU K.K.
pp. 3623-3633
S&M2713 Research Paper
https://doi.org/10.18494/SAM.2021.3452
Published: October 29, 2021

Development of Walking Assistive Cane for Obstacle Detection and Location Recognition for Visually Impaired People [PDF]

Chang-Min Yang, Ji-Yong Jung, and Jung-Ja Kim

(Received July 21, 2021; Accepted October 20, 2021)

Keywords: visually impaired people, walking assistive cane, obstacle detection, ultrasonic sensor, RFID

Visually impaired people generally use a white cane for safe walking owing to its advantages of familiarity, reliability, low cost, and usability, but it is difficult to detect low obstacles with a cane. Although electronic walking assistive canes equipped with various sensors are being developed to solve several problems, these devices cannot be used by visually impaired people owing to their very high prices and insufficient reliability. We have developed a new walking assistive cane for visually impaired people that uses three ultrasonic sensors, a vibration motor, a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader and tags, a speaker, a cadmium sulfide photoresistor, and an LED. An experimental environment with cylindrical obstacles and RFID was designed to evaluate its effectiveness. Ten participants with normal vision were recruited, and they walked blindfold through the experimental environment three times using a normal white cane and three times using the developed cane. In the experiment, walking with the developed cane showed higher obstacle detection performance than walking with a normal white cane. However, the walking speed of the user was lower using the developed cane. According to the results of a questionnaire on the satisfaction of walking with the developed cane, recognition of the current location became easier with the use of RFID but the detection range of RFID should be further increased. The cane developed in this study can be manufactured inexpensively, and the effect of the weight of the cane on the user is reduced by attaching a wheel to its tip to allow it to be pushed forward rather than swung from side to side. This is a basic study on improving the satisfaction of spatial perception ability when transmitting spatial information to visually impaired people using RFID, and its results can be used to develop electronic travel aids in the future.

Corresponding author: Jung-Ja Kim


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Cite this article
Chang-Min Yang, Ji-Yong Jung, and Jung-Ja Kim, Development of Walking Assistive Cane for Obstacle Detection and Location Recognition for Visually Impaired People, Sens. Mater., Vol. 33, No. 10, 2021, p. 3623-3633.



Forthcoming Regular Issues


Forthcoming Special Issues

Applications of Novel Sensors and Related Technologies for Internet of Things
Guest editor, Teen-Hang Meen (National Formosa University), Wenbing Zhao (Cleveland State University), and Cheng-Fu Yang (National University of Kaohsiung)
Call for paper


Special Issue on Advanced Data Sensing and Processing Technologies for Smart Community and Smart Life
Guest editor, Tatsuya Yamazaki (Niigata University)
Call for paper


Special Issue on Advanced Sensing Technologies and Their Applications in Human/Animal Activity Recognition and Behavior Understanding
Guest editor, Kaori Fujinami (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology)
Call for paper


Special Issue on International Conference on Biosensors, Bioelectronics, Biomedical Devices, BioMEMS/NEMS and Applications 2023 (Bio4Apps 2023)
Guest editor, Dzung Viet Dao (Griffith University) and Cong Thanh Nguyen (Griffith University)
Conference website
Call for paper


Special Issue on Piezoelectric Thin Films and Piezoelectric MEMS
Guest editor, Isaku Kanno (Kobe University)
Call for paper


Special Issue on Advanced Micro/Nanomaterials for Various Sensor Applications (Selected Papers from ICASI 2023)
Guest editor, Sheng-Joue Young (National United University)
Conference website
Call for paper


Copyright(C) MYU K.K. All Rights Reserved.