RU97918U1 - COMMUNICATIVE SYSTEM FOR INFORMING AND ORIENTING THE BLIND - Google Patents

Abstract

 1. A communicative system for informing and orienting the blind, comprising an information unit mounted on an object, including a first digital memory device, a first encoder and a first radio transmitter connected in series, as well as a first control circuit with a timer, the corresponding outputs of which are connected to the control inputs of the first digital memory device , the first encoder and the first radio transmitter, also containing a wearable unit including a series-connected first radio receiver, ne a second decoder, a second digital storage device and a digital-to-analog converter, a first amplifier and a first electro-acoustic converter connected in series, as well as a second control circuit, the corresponding outputs of which are connected to the control inputs of the first radio receiver, the first decoder, the second digital storage device and a digital-to-analog converter, characterized in that a digital clock-calendar is inserted into the information block, the second radio receiver and the second an encoder, as well as a series-connected generator, a first digital volume control, a second amplifier and a second electro-acoustic transducer, while the control inputs of the digital clock, second radio, second decoder, generator and the first digital volume control are connected to the corresponding outputs of the first control circuit, and the information outputs of the second decoder and the digital calendar clock are connected to the corresponding information inputs of the first control circuit, and introduced into the wearable unit

Description

The utility model relates to medical equipment, in particular to orientation systems in the space of people with visual impairment and can be used to inform and orient visually impaired and blind people when they move around the territory with urban infrastructure.

Known devices for the orientation of the blind, built on the principle of location. These devices use either radars to detect obstacles encountered by blind people when moving them in space (see, for example, [1, 2, 3]) or acoustic sonar [4]. Such devices differ in the type of impact on a person when determining an obstacle (acoustic or vibrational), reaction to one or more obstacles [1], the possibility of orientation in space using a magnetometer and GPS [2, 3], however, all these devices cannot give information to the blind person about urban infrastructure, so necessary for orientation in the city.

A patent-protected device for blind orientation is deprived of this drawback [5]. In essence, this device is a communicative system for informing and orienting the blind (hereinafter - the system). System [5] is the closest analogue of the proposed utility model and is selected as a prototype in terms of technical nature and the number of common features,

The prototype system contains an information unit permanently installed at an urban infrastructure facility and a wearable voice alert unit that a blind person carries with him. The information block contains a digital one. a storage device, an encoder, a radio transmitter equipped with an antenna with a narrow directivity characteristic, and a control circuit with a timer. The wearable unit contains a radio receiver and a storage device, a decoder, a digital-to-analog converter, an amplifier, an electro-acoustic converter, and a control circuit.

The prototype system works as follows. The information block installed on the object in digital form contains information about the object and other useful information for the blind person. A radio transmitter with a frequency set by a timer sends an encoded message containing the indicated information to the air.

The transmitted message is received by the radio receiver of the wearable voice announcement unit and recorded in the storage device, after which the reception is blocked, and an audible signal “attention” is given to the blind person by the electro-acoustic transducer. Then the message code is extracted from the storage device, decoded, converted into an analog signal, and fed through an amplifier to an electro-acoustic transducer, which is reproduced as a voice message listened to by a person in real time. At the end of the sound of the voice message, the cycle of its reception, recording, decoding and transmission to the subject is automatically repeated.

The prototype system allows a blind person to get information about the object of urban infrastructure in real time, but it has several disadvantages.

The main disadvantage of the system is that to determine the direction of movement to the blind object, it is necessary to perform a complex maneuver. Also, this system does not allow a blind person to determine the distance to the object. All this significantly complicates the search for the object blind.

Another disadvantage of the system is the need to place several information blocks on one object in order to increase the efficiency of using the system in an urban environment. Thus, the costs of the acquisition, installation and maintenance of such a system significantly increase, which in some cases reduces the economic feasibility of its use.

Also, the lack of a tactile method of attracting the attention of a blind person when he falls into the coverage area of an information block can be attributed to the system’s disadvantages. Since the system is designed for operation in conditions of increased noise in an urban environment, a visually impaired person may miss an object of interest to him simply by not hearing a voice message due to loud noise.

The objective of the utility model is to eliminate these shortcomings of the prototype system and create an improved communicative system for informing and orienting the blind in difficult urban infrastructure conditions.

The technical result of the utility model is to increase the information content of the system by providing the blind, in a simple and accessible way, with information about the direction of movement to the object, about the distance to the object, additionally drawing the blind's attention to the object using a tactile device, along with a significant reduction in acquisition costs, installation and maintenance of this system.

To achieve the technical result, a communication system for informing and orienting the blind contains an information unit installed on the object, including a first digital storage device, a first encoder and a first radio transmitter connected in series, as well as a first control circuit with a timer, the corresponding outputs of which are connected to control inputs the first digital storage device, the first encoder and the first radio transmitter, also containing a wearable unit, including the first radio receiver, the first decoder, the second digital storage device and the digital-to-analog converter, the first amplifier and the first electro-acoustic converter connected in series, as well as the second control circuit, the corresponding outputs of which are connected to the control inputs of the first radio receiver, the first decoder, and the second digital storage device and digital-to-analog converter, new features have been introduced, namely: a digital calendar clock has been introduced into the information block b, the second radio receiver and the second decoder connected in series, as well as the generator, the first digital volume control, the second amplifier and the second electro-acoustic converter, the control inputs of the digital clock-calendar, the second radio, the second decoder, the generator and the first digital volume control are connected with the corresponding outputs of the first control circuit, and the information outputs of the second decoder and the digital calendar clock are connected to the corresponding information input inputs of the first control circuit, and a hand control device and a second encoder and a second radio transmitter connected in series to the wearable unit, as well as a tactile device and a manual volume control, while the output of the manual control device is connected to the corresponding input of the second control circuit, the corresponding outputs of which connected to the control inputs of the second encoder, the second radio transmitter and the tactile device, and the output of the digital-to-analog converter is connected to manual volume control house, the output of which is connected to the input of the first amplifier.

In order to cover two objects of urban infrastructure with the help of one information block, a second digital volume control, a third amplifier and a third electro-acoustic transducer must be additionally introduced in series into the information block, while the analog input of the second digital volume control must be connected to the corresponding output of the generator, and the control input of the second digital volume control must be connected to the corresponding output of the first circuit i.

In order to cover three objects of urban infrastructure in an information block with the second digital volume control already entered above, the third amplifier and the third electro-acoustic transducer, additionally connected in series are the third digital volume control, the fourth amplifier and the fourth electro-acoustic transducer, with this analog input of the third digital volume control must be connected to the corresponding the output of the generator, and the control input of the third digital volume control must be connected to the corresponding output of the first control circuit.

After the introduction of new signs, the claimed system will provide the blind with information about the direction of movement and the distance to the object, additionally draw the blind's attention to the object using tactile influence, and will also allow covering up to three objects of urban infrastructure with the help of one information block.

The essence of the utility model is illustrated in Figs. 1 ÷ 4, where Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an information block intended for installation on a single object, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a wearable block, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an information block intended for installation on a group of three objects, and figure 4 - options for placing information blocks on various objects.

The communicative system for informing and orienting the blind (FIGS. 1, 2) contains an information unit 1 installed on the object, including a first digital storage device 2, a first encoder 3, a first radio transmitter 4, a timer 5, a first control circuit 6, a digital clock calendar 7 , a second radio 8, a second decoder 9, a generator 10, a first digital volume control 11, a second amplifier 12 and a second electro-acoustic transducer 13. Also, the claimed communication system includes a wearable unit 14, including a manual device control 15, second encoder 16, second radio transmitter 17, second control circuit 18, tactile device 19, first radio 20, first decoder 21, second digital storage device 22, digital-to-analog converter 23, manual volume control 24, first amplifier 25 and the first electro-acoustic transducer 26.

The information block, intended for installation on a group of three objects (Fig. 3), further comprises a second digital volume control 27, a third amplifier 28, a third electro-acoustic transducer 29, a third digital volume control 30, a fourth amplifier 31 and a fourth electro-acoustic transducer 32.

All blocks of the structural diagram of the claimed system are known in the art and are mass-produced. For example, the control circuit is based on the Atmel ATmega88 single-chip microcontroller, the radio transmitter and receiver are based on the Silicon Labs Si4421 single-chip transceiver, the digital calendar clock is based on the Dallas Semiconductor DS1340 microcircuit, and the digital information storage unit is based on Atmel AT25DF321 microchips, the electro-acoustic information block transducer is a W-25 piezo-emitter manufactured by EAST, an electro the acoustic transducer of the wearable unit is the dynamic head YD 50-02 manufactured by Zhenglong Electronic, the tactile device is a QX-6A-1 vibromotor manufactured by QX Motor.

Figure 4 presents the options for placing information blocks 1 on various objects. Such objects can be: a single stationary object of urban infrastructure 33, a mobile object of urban public transport 34, a group of stationary objects of urban infrastructure 35. To use the information block 1 with a group of stationary objects of urban infrastructure 35, the information block 1 is located on one of the objects of group 35 and additional electro-acoustic transducers 29 and 32 are installed on the remaining objects of group 35, connected to the information block 1 through the connecting Abel.

The claimed system operates as follows.

In the first digital storage device 2 of the information unit 1 installed on the object, digitally contains information about the object, which may be useful to the user. The first radio transmitter 4 with a frequency set by the timer 5 sends a message encoded by the first encoder 3 to the air containing the specified information.

When using information block 1 with a group of objects 35, the first digital storage device 2 of information block 1 contains digital information about each object of group 35, which may be useful to the user. The first radio transmitter 4 with a frequency set by the timer 5 sends a message encoded by the first encoder 3 with information about one of the objects of the group 35 in turn for each object of the group 35.

The transmitted message is received by the first radio receiver 20 of the wearable unit 14, decoded by the first decoder 21 and recorded in the second digital storage device 22, after which the reception is blocked, and a vibration signal is supplied to the user through the tactile device 19 in order to attract the user's attention. Then the message is extracted from the second digital storage device 22, converted by the digital-to-analog converter 23 into an analog signal, and through the manual volume control 24 and the first amplifier 25 is fed to the first electro-acoustic converter 26, which is reproduced as a voice message that is heard by the user in real time.

Further, the user through the manual control device 15 of the wearable unit 14 can send one of the special commands to the second control circuit 18. The code for this command is generated by the second control circuit 18, encoded by the second encoder 16, and transmitted by the second radio transmitter 17.

The transmitted command code is received by the second radio 8 of the information block 1, decoded by the second decoder 9 and goes to the first control circuit 6. Depending on the type of command, the first control circuit 6 either stops transmitting information about the object on the air, or resumes transmitting information about the object on the air, or sends a command to the generator 10 to generate a special analog signal, which through the first digital volume control 11 and the second amplifier 12 is supplied to the second electro-acoustic transducer 13 , and is converted into an audio signal that is recognized by the user as an orientation signal. When using an information block 1 with a group of objects 35, the analog signal from the generator 10 can be supplied (depending on the type of command), not to the first digital volume control 11 and beyond, as described above, but to the second digital volume control 27 (or the third digital volume control 30), then to the third amplifier 28 (or to the fourth amplifier 31) and to the third electro-acoustic transducer 29 (or to the fourth electro-acoustic transducer 32), which is installed on one of the objects of group 35. Using the signal orientation, the user is able to determine the direction of movement and the distance to the object. The radiation volume of the orientation audio signal can be changed depending on the time of day by the first digital volume control 11 (or the second digital volume control 27 or the third digital volume control 30 when using the information unit 1 with a group of objects 35) controlled by the first control circuit 6, which uses data on the current time received from the digital clock-calendar 7. Translation of the current time of the digital clock-calendar 7 to summer and winter time is carried out automatically and.

The ability of a blind person to obtain information in a simple and accessible way for him about the direction and distance to an object of interest to him will greatly facilitate a person's search and finding this object in space.

The use of a tactile effect on a person in the claimed system along with acoustic will significantly reduce the likelihood of an object being missed by a blind person.

The use of these systems not only with stationary objects of urban infrastructure, but also with moving objects of urban public transport, will allow blind people to quickly determine the transport routes they need, which will greatly facilitate the conditions for the movement of blind people in the city.

The ability to use one information unit to inform the blind about several nearby objects, including information about the direction and distance to each of these objects, significantly reduces the cost of using the claimed system.

It should also be noted that the claimed system can be manufactured on the basis of widespread and inexpensive electronic components, which ensures high manufacturability and relatively low cost of manufacturing the system.

Information sources

1 RF Patent No. 588350, publ. 11/27/2006 by class A61F 9/08

2 RF Patent No. 2299052, publ. 05/20/2007 by class A61F 9/08

3 RF Patent No. 2299053, publ. 05/20/2007 by class A61F 9/08

4 RF Patent No. 2085162, publ. 07.27.1997 by class A61F 9/08

5 RF Patent No. 43161, publ. 01/10/2005 according to class A61F 9/08 - prototype

Claims (3)

1. A communicative system for informing and orienting the blind, comprising an information unit mounted on an object, including a first digital memory device, a first encoder and a first radio transmitter connected in series, as well as a first control circuit with a timer, the corresponding outputs of which are connected to the control inputs of the first digital memory device , the first encoder and the first radio transmitter, also containing a wearable unit including a series-connected first radio receiver, ne a second decoder, a second digital storage device and a digital-to-analog converter, a first amplifier and a first electro-acoustic converter connected in series, as well as a second control circuit, the corresponding outputs of which are connected to the control inputs of the first radio receiver, the first decoder, the second digital storage device and a digital-to-analog converter, characterized in that a digital clock-calendar is inserted into the information block, the second radio receiver and the second an encoder, as well as a series-connected generator, a first digital volume control, a second amplifier and a second electro-acoustic transducer, while the control inputs of the digital clock, second radio, second decoder, generator and the first digital volume control are connected to the corresponding outputs of the first control circuit, and the information outputs of the second decoder and the digital calendar clock are connected to the corresponding information inputs of the first control circuit, and introduced into the wearable unit a manual control device and a second encoder and a second radio transmitter connected in series, as well as a tactile device and a manual volume control, while the output of the manual control device is connected to the corresponding input of the second control circuit, the corresponding outputs of which are connected to the control inputs of the second encoder, second radio transmitter and device tactile effect, and the output of the digital-to-analog converter is connected to the input of the manual volume control, the output of which is connected to the input th first amplifier. 2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that the second digital volume control, the third amplifier and the third electro-acoustic transducer are additionally connected in series to the information block, while the analog input of the second digital volume control is connected to the corresponding output of the generator, and the control input of the second digital the volume control is connected to the corresponding output of the first control circuit. 3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that the third digital volume control, the fourth amplifier and the fourth electro-acoustic transducer are additionally connected in series to the information block, while the analog input of the third digital volume control is connected to the corresponding output of the generator, and the control input of the third digital the volume control is connected to the corresponding output of the first control circuit.