Read how a simple ultrasonic sensor, a vibrating motor, and one or two microcontrollers turned into a practical upgrade for a walking frame. This ultrasonic obstacle detector is capable of identifying objects up to four meters away.

Project Overview

This project originated with a request from my uncle, who lived in a retirement home and experienced significant vision problems. He used a walking frame, but had difficulty detecting obstacles in his path, which were a daily challenge. To help him get around as best as possible, I designed an ultrasonic obstacle detection module. It’s capable of identifying objects up to 4 m away, with a detection angle of approximately 20°. When an obstacle is detected, a red LED lights up, and a micro motor activates to generate vibrations on the walker’s frame, which can be felt by the user as a warning.

First Version

To keep the project simple and modular, an Arduino Nano was used for this project, as well as a ready-made Grove ultrasoni...