College - Author 1

College of Engineering

Department - Author 1

Electrical Engineering Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BS in Electrical Engineering

College - Author 2

College of Engineering

Department - Author 2

Mechanical Engineering Department

Degree - Author 2

BS in Mechanical Engineering

College - Author 3

College of Engineering

Department - Author 3

Biomedical Engineering Department

Degree - Author 3

BS in Biomedical Engineering

College - Author 4

College of Engineering

Department - Author 4

General Engineering Department

Degree - Author 4

BS in General Engineering

Date

6-2018

Primary Advisor

Lily Laiho, College of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Department

Abstract/Summary

The goal of team CENTREAD was to design a device to allow a person with a visual disability to run efficiently and effectively on a treadmill without fear of falling off or injuring themselves. The customer wished for the device to be small, lightweight, and have an easy, autonomous setup, while providing feedback to the user wirelessly for them to correct their own movement. The ultimate goal of the device is to allow the user to be comfortable, safe, and free while using it in order to ensure they have the best running experience. The device utilizes ultrasonic sensors in housings to detect distances of objects using sound wave pulses. These sensors send signals out and detect the amount of time it takes for the signal to return to the same place, taking that time and converting it into a distance. These distances are sent directly into a microcontroller, where the microcontroller collects and analyzes the data. While analyzing the data, the microcontroller looks for data points that are within the boundaries set as not safe zones. These data points are then assigned a value and are sent over to a wireless transmitter to communicate with its sister receiver. The receiver detects a signal sent from the relative transmitter and sends the signal to another microcontroller to be processed. This process takes the value sent from the transmitter and assigns that value to a pin to activate a voltage to. This pin contains a small eccentric weighted motor that vibrates when a voltage is applied. This vibration is then interpreted by the user to move in the opposite direction of the vibration, correcting their location. This device utilizes two housings, one along the length axis of the treadmill belt and one along the width axis of the treadmill belt. These boxes interpret backwards distance from the front edge of the belt and left and right distance from the inside face of the right treadmill arm, respectively. These housings each contain their own microcontroller and transmitter that communicate with the receiver. The receiver is contained with a belt that the user wears, and collects signals from both housings. The microcontroller interprets these signals and applies a voltage to the respective motor. These motors are located on the left, right, and back of the belt and are there to correct the user to the right, left, and forwards respectively. This feedback system ultimately serves the purpose for solving the users problem and is an effective way of helping them get back to running confidently and safely again.

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