A Francis Tuttle team's entry for the TI Codes contest uses a calculator to sense potential obstacles
A group of Computer Science Academy students was asked how much they could do with a graphic calculator.
And it turns out, they can help blind people navigate their surroundings.
The Super Epic FT Team – Colten Roberts, Lai Sengvilay, Siddharth Pandit, and Luis Blake – and designed a walking cane using a TI-84 calculator that helps blind people sense objects in front of them faster. The design was entered into the TI-84 Codes Contest and earned an honorable mention.
Using a traditional walking cane has some limitations. The team wanted to find a way for a blind person to sense an object or potential obstacle sooner and with more accuracy.
“There are many times that obstacles are elevated above the ground and can’t be sensed before collision,” Blake said.
Blake explained that the team attached an ultrasonic ranger to the cane and hooked it up to a TI Innovator Hub that then sends that information to the calculator. It calculates the intensity of the vibration from the ranger and sends that information back to the hub, which activates the vibrational motor to a corresponding intensity.
“This design allows someone to navigate the area without having to worry about not sensing elevated or oncoming obstacles,” Blake said. “To do this, it will vibrate the closer you get to an object until you pinpoint your exact location from it.”
The TI Codes competition challenges teams of students from across the country to find an innovative use for TI calculators. It challenges students to use TI technology to optimize or improve a process or product based on a theme, and this year’s theme was “movement or motion.”