Little by little it seems that new technologies are beginning to reach the youngest in our cities, something that is worthy of praise and that should continue to be promoted. In this case I want to present you the project of a Colombian high school teacher and two of her students who, with a little ingenuity, have been able to create a homemade cane for the blind capable of detecting puddles and obstacles.
Among the details to take into account, it should be noted that this peculiar cane has been manufactured using recyclable materials. The first prototype of it was made from a piece of plastic tubing, a large matchbox, sensors, and an Arduino board. The last prototype created, on the other hand, is already made with a metal bar taken from a disused cabinet, recycled cables from other projects and different parts, such as the case and the battery, taken from an old mobile phone.
Two young Colombians and their teacher present us their smart cane
According to teacher who has supervised the development of the entire project:
We have created this cane because we have seen the need to help people with visual impairments. The latest design of our prototype can be folded for much easier use. The mode of operation is very simple, when a blind person reaches an obstacle, the cane vibrates like a mobile phone.
The next step we want to get to is to get funding from a Non-Governmental Organization to make enough walking sticks to make their price much lower so that they can reach as many people as possible.
Without a doubt, I have to admit that this is a project that demonstrates the great capacity, with simple knowledge and a little dedication and motivation, that all our teenagers can have.