The focus of this review is gait-assisting wearable sensors and hazard detection for pedestrians. Advances in smart wearable technologies, integrating motion sensors with machine learning algorithms, has led to developments in shoe-mounted obstacle detection. Shoe-mounted sensor systems designed to monitor foot-obstacle interaction are being employed to identify tripping risk and provide corrective feedback. To address this problem, there is an increasing focus on developing assistive technologies that can alert the user to the risk destabilizing foot contact with either the ground or obstacles, leading to a fall. Walking independently is essential to maintaining our quality of life but safe locomotion depends on perceiving hazards in the everyday environment. The overall design ensures energy efficiency, portability, stability, ease of access, and robust features. The smart stick has been designed to be lightweight, waterproof, size adjustable, and has long battery life. A panic button is also provided for emergency assistance by generating a request signal in the form of an SMS containing a Google maps link generated with latitude and longitude coordinates and sent through an IoT-enabled environment. Moreover, the latitude/longitude values of the user are captured and uploaded to the IoT platform for effective tracking via global positioning system (GPS)/global system for mobile communication (GSM) modules, which enable the live location of the user/stick to be monitored on the IoT dashboard. The proposed system allows for switching between the two modes depending on the environment and personal preference.

The proposed smart stick has two modes one uses ultrasonic sensors for detection and feedback through vibration motors to inform about the direction of the obstacle, and the second mode is the detection and recognition of obstacles and providing voice feedback. Furthermore, the user is signaled about various hindrances and objects using voice feedback through earphones after accurately detecting and identifying objects.

The proposed design employs ultrasonic sensors for obstacle detection, a water sensor for sensing the puddles and wet surfaces in the user’s path, and a high-definition video camera integrated with object recognition. This paper presents the design, development, and testing of an IoT-enabled smart stick for visually impaired people to navigate the outside environment with the ability to detect and warn about obstacles.

Proteus infrared sensor