Teen invents smart stick for blind people

Shantanu is passionate about electronics, and when he saw some blind students, he decided to use his love for electronics to help them, and so he designed a smart stick to help the blind people navigate.

"I saw blind students at school having a hard time in moving around. They could not detect obstacles and would bump into them," said the young inventor. He hopes his invention will help fill this gap.

"It has infra-red sensors. The sensors are connected to a motor. When infra-red rays are reflected, the stick starts vibrating, giving warning about obstacles ahead," he said.

The equipment can be fitted on conventional stick.

"It can detect an obstacle within one feet. Now I plan to increase the range to two to three meters. I have been approached by some companies to market the invention," he said.

The easy-to-use stick, which will cost around 800 rupees (16 U.S. dollars), has brought him the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Diamond Jubilee Invention Award for School Children 2010.

"I used to feel bad seeing visually-impaired students in my school bump into walls and furniture. I thought of developing something that warns them about obstacles," Shantanu said.

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/1uMl0bD