Indoor navigation system for visually impaired using UHF RFID (Outstanding Academic Papers by Students

Abstract

This report focuses on designing indoor navigation system for visually impaired people by the collaboration of tactile paving, Radio Frequency Identification system, Bluetooth Low Energy, and application software in smartphone. A RFID system is composed of three components which are UHF RFID tag, RFID reader and scanning antenna. The project did the study, fabrication, and experimental measurement on the scanning antenna to replace the original antenna of the system since the size of the original antenna needs to be modified to implement on the navigation system. Several parameters such as the bandwidth, center frequency, gain and return loss (S11) are considered to achieve the requirement of the antenna. To accomplish the requirements for the RFID reading, a meander antenna is referenced and optimized through HFSS. On the other hand, the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) retrieves from the RFID signal is measured to design the algorithm for the navigation system. The comparison of the antennas is also included to verify the reliability when the UHF RFID is covered by the tactile paving. Furthermore, as the smartphone is the platform to navigate, the retrieved data from the tags are read by the RFID reader and it will be sent to the smartphone by Bluetooth LE. The Dijkstra's algorithm is used to process the data to get the shortest path for the system to navigate, it is an to execute the navigation system to guide the user to the designated destination. For further function on the system, a Linear Resonant Actuator (LRA) is used to provide a directional vibration to assist the user to indicate the correct direction and the hazardous notice. Concluding the whole navigation system, the project involving hardware and software part, the circuits and electronic components are integrated into a 3D-printed box and installed in the guiding cane to investigate the effectiveness of the guiding system.