WO2014013101A1 - Portable object detection device - Google Patents

Description

 PORTABLE DETECTION OF OBJECTS DEVICE

The present invention is framed within the object detection devices, namely, objects that remain at the height of a person's shoulders and head since the device is installed in glasses

STATE OF THE PREVIOUS TECHNIQUE

During the twentieth century there have been great advances in new technologies adapted to the blind, and the twenty-first century points in the same direction. The use of new technologies is not available to everyone today, due to the visual content of these devices, such as ATMs, mobiles and computers. Typhotechnology aims to create new technologies, adapt and provide accessibility to the technologies we already have, so that people with blindness and visual impairment use them.

In short, blindness must be counteracted by making these people's integration more viable to the challenges that anyone may pose in their daily lives. So far, the research and development of technologies have created different products, such as: clothing labels that have the color in the braille system, soccer balls that emit noise when they are in motion or world maps with raised indications. In the case of computers, we have braille printers and scanners, as well as adapted software, one of them being the screen reviewers that dictate the content of the same.

Due to the advances of adapted and accessible technologies, blind or visually impaired people can develop a wide variety of professions, since typology provides the tools required for a conventional work environment, thus allowing a high level of integration both in work and social life.

i At present it can be said that vision is our main sense of orientation and perception. Studies recognize that 80% of the information we receive from our environment, and that is necessary to perform actions of our daily lives, is through the organ of vision.

According to information provided by the WHO (World Health Organization) on its website, "314 million people suffer from some type of disability in the world and 45 million people are blind." The same article shows the figure that 87% of these people are in developed countries. It is also necessary to highlight children's blindness, with 12 million blind children, whose ages range between 5 and 15 years. In the member countries of the European Union there are 30 million blind or partially sighted people. In Spain, La Once has quantified 60,000 people with vision problems. This number is increasing as the population ages. Every five seconds there is a case of blindness among adults; every minute there is one more blind among the child population. It is estimated that the number of people with total blindness could reach 75 million in the year 2020. The blind are people who have a sensory deficiency. This lack of sense of sight can be total or partial.

In the sense of visual acuity we will understand as a degree of vision, expressed in numerical values, at what distance a person is able to perceive clearly. Social integration is imposed as a law in 1982 and is reinforced in 1992.

Currently, people who lack the sense of sight have a cane that warns of obstacles located on the ground. The cane is a instrument with which the blind can travel alone through the streets, but it is an aid that only detects obstacles or unevenness in the ground, without detecting objects suspended in the air, such as garage doors, low awnings, tree branches, road signs and even traffic lights. Thus, there is a need to develop a device that allows blind people to detect objects that are at shoulder and head level.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention proposes a portable object detection device specially designed to be placed in glasses for the blind so as to allow the detection of objects that remain at shoulder and head height of the people who carry it.

The device comprises as essential elements an infrared sensor, an actuator and a microcontroller. The sensor comprises at least one emitter and at least one receiver, and uses infrared technology as a collection system, sending a beam of light that when it finds an object bounces on it and returns to the sensor itself. This sensor also incorporates additional filtering to avoid the influence of the infrared component found in the sun's rays and in the fluorescent tubes. Thus, the output provided by the sensor is a voltage directly proportional to the proximity of an object.

The microcontroller receives the signal from the sensor, manages it by calculating the distance at which the object is located and emits an output signal to the actuator. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said actuator is a piezoelectric speaker, in which case the signal that the actuator sends is a frequency audible by the human being. This frequency is variable depending on the distance at which the object is. Thus, for example, as the person who brings the device to the object approaches, the frequency of the actuator signal and a louder sound is emitted.

When the device is going to be used by a person who has a hearing impairment. In these cases the device includes a micromotor that receives a vibration when it receives the signal from the microcontroller. In this way the person carrying the device would receive signals by vibration when approaching objects.

Thus, the device of the present invention makes it possible to detect objects that may be an obstacle for blind people at levels higher than the shoulders of said persons. As the sensor detects that the person is approaching an object, the frequency of the signal it sends to the actuator increases, causing it to emit a louder sound or vibrate with greater intensity. The device of the present invention is characterized by being autonomous, lightweight and adapting to any type of glasses for the blind.

Throughout the description and the claims the word "comprises" and its variants are not intended to exclude other technical characteristics, additives, components or steps. For those skilled in the art, other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be derived partly from the description and partly from the practice of the invention. The following examples and drawings are provided by way of illustration, and are not intended to be limiting of the present invention. In addition, the present invention covers all possible combinations of particular and preferred embodiments indicated herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To complement the description that is being made and in order to help a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, a set of drawings is accompanied as an integral part of said description. where for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, the following has been represented:

FIG. 1 shows a scheme of the portable object detection device. FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the device placed in glasses for people with visual impairment in which the sensor of the device has been placed on the bridge of the glasses.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment in which the device has a sensor with an emitting element and a receiving element that are placed at opposite ends of the central part of a pair of glasses.

References: 1: Sensor; 2: MicrocontiOlador; 3: Actuator; 4: Glasses; 5: Object; 6: First signal; 7: Second signal; 8: Third signal; 9: Sender element, 10: Receiver element; 11 manual switch; 12: User; 13: Infrared rays

DETAILED EXHIBITION OF MODES OF EMBODIMENT

The portable object detection device of the present invention comprises at least one sensor (1). The sensor emits an infrared signal that upon finding a nearby object bounces on it and returns back to the sensor. The sensor employed in the invention comprises a filter to prevent infrared rays from the sun and the fluorescent tubes.

Thus, the portable object detection device is specially designed to be installed in glasses (4) allowing the detection of objects that remain at shoulder and head height of the person carrying the device. This device is characterized in that it comprises an infrared sensor (1) (13) that is placed in the front of the glasses (4) and that emits a first signal (6) when it detects an object (5). The sensor (1) is connected to a microcontroller (2) that processes the first signal (6) and emits a second signal (7) proportional to the distance at which the object is located (5). The second signal (7) is sent to an actuator (3) that emits a third signal (8) that is perceptible to the user (12) and has a frequency inversely proportional to the distance at which the object is (5).

In an embodiment of the invention, the sensor used is an infrared type detector whose radius corresponds to the area of the electromagnetic spectrum of wavelength in the range of 0.7 microns to 0.1 millimeters, a range 100 times larger than which corresponds to the visible light so that the emission of the sensor occurs in a spectrum invisible to the human being. Every body emits infrared radiation, and when the body is hotter, more radiation emits at a certain wavelength.

In a preferred embodiment, the infrared sensor is composed of a phototransistor, of piezoelectric material, natural or artificial, integrated in several configurations (1, 2, 4 pixels of piezoelectric material). In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a passive sensor is used, which is formed by the phototransistor and whose function is to measure the radiation of the objects. In another embodiment of the invention an active sensor is used, based on a transmitter and receiver configuration side by side. In this case the emitter is a LED and the receiver is a phototransistor.

The device of the present invention also comprises a microcontroller (2) that receives an input signal from the sensor (1), manages said signal by calculating the distance from the person carrying the device to the object, and emits a proportional signal at said distance to an actuator (3). As the information processing needs in this invention are low, a low-end microcontroller (2) can be used. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the microcontroller that is used is the PIC12F1822 of the microchip family. It is a small microcontroller that has 8 bits and only 8 pins. In addition, this microcontroller has a low cost, low consumption, small size and high efficiency. The microcontroller of this embodiment has a consumption of 34μΑ in normal operation with a supply voltage of 1.8 V. Its frequency range varies between 31 kHz and 32MHz. For this application, an internal clock frequency of 31 kHz has been selected, which is the lowest consumption option to ensure greater autonomy of the device. The microcontroller has an analog / digital converter with a resolution of 10 bits responsible for performing sensor readings.

In one embodiment of the invention the microcontroller (2) incorporates a power stabilization module. The device can be powered by an external power source or by batteries. The microcontroller

The actuator (3) of the device of the present invention receives the signal emitted by the microcontroller (2). In a particular embodiment of the invention, the actuator (3) is a piezoelectric speaker that emits sound and vibrations depending on the input signal. This is activated by applying a minimum voltage at a frequency that causes mechanical vibration in small piezoelectric crystal plates. Said crystal is altered and vibrates causing a membrane to send messages to the air that reach the ear. The main advantage of these devices is their small size and reduced consumption. In addition to emitting sound, it also vibrates. This type of speaker does not use magnets, which greatly reduces its weight. These are very economical devices with great performance of use.

A series of studies and designs have been carried out combining analog, digital electronics and microprogrammable elements determining the preferred speed for operation of the device object of the invention. It is known that the human ear perceives the sounds that are between 20 Hz and 20 KHz, so the period that the microcontroller device must be oscillating to activate the speaker is P = 1 //. An operating frequency of 650 Hz has been chosen, thus being the period of 1538 ps. That is, each pin of the microcontroller (2) must be at a low level and a high level in the middle of the period, that is 769 ps, so two times of 769 s each are established so that the speaker emits a sound at a 650 Hz frequency.

The device of the invention is specially designed to be installed in glasses for people who have a visual impairment. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device is installed in said glasses for people with a visual disability by placing the sensor (1) in the center of the glasses (4), on the bridge of said glasses that is between the two glasses. Said sensor is connected to a microcontroller (2) which is placed in one of the glasses pins and which is connected to the actuator (3) which in a preferred embodiment is in the glasses pin (4) in the remaining area. closest to the ear of the person wearing the device. Said device may have a manual switch (11) to facilitate switching on or off according to the needs of the user at any time.

In an exemplary embodiment, the microcontroller (2) has been programmed to activate at a distance of 60 cm from the objects, preventing it from being put into operation with each object that passes near the person but is not going to imply a clash with it. . This reduces their power consumption, and is only activated with objects that are directed at the face of the person at an angle of 20 °

In another embodiment of the invention in which the device is placed in glasses (4) for people with a visual impairment and comprises a sensor (1) of the type of those with an emitting element (9) and a receiving element (10). In that case, the emitting element (9) is placed in the front part of the spectacle (4) at one of the ends, and the receiving element (10) is placed in the same front part, at the opposite end.

In other embodiments of the invention, the device could be designed to be installed in a hat, a helmet, or similar elements that are placed on the head of the blind person to prevent such people from colliding with objects that are at height. of his shoulders and head, of which he does not prevent the use of a cane. It is thus possible to speed up the walk of blind people through wooded areas, such as any avenue or park in a city, and shopping areas where the awnings can be located at a low height.

Claims

1 - Portable object detection device specially designed to be installed in glasses (4) allowing the detection of objects that remain at shoulder and head level of the person carrying the device, the device being characterized in that it comprises a infrared sensor (1) (13) that is placed on the front of the glasses (4) and emits a first signal (6) when it detects an object (5), said sensor (1) is connected to a microcontroller ( 2) that processes the first signal (6) and emits a second signal (7) proportional to the distance the object is located (5) and said second signal (7) is sent to an actuator (3) that emits a third signal (8) that is perceptible to the user (12) and has a frequency inversely proportional to the distance at which the object is (5). 2- Device according to claim 1 wherein the sensor (1) is placed in the bridge of the spectacle (4), in the part that is between the crystals. 3-Device according to claim 1 wherein the sensor (1) comprises at least one emitting element (9) and one receiving element (10) both being placed on the front of the spectacle, the emitting element (9) in a end and the receiving element (10) at the opposite end. 4-Device according to any one of the preceding claims in which the actuator (3) is a piezoelectric speaker that emits an audible sound by the user that becomes more acute as the distance between the sensor (1) and the object (5) decreases. ). 5- Device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the actuator (3) is a micromotor that vibrates upon receiving the third signal (8), increasing the frequency of vibration depending on the distance between the sensor (1) and object (5). 6- Device according to any one of the preceding claims that incorporates a switch (11) for switching on and off the device manually by the user (12). 7- Glasses comprising the device described in any one of the preceding claims.