9 year old Mihika's 3d printed Smart Stick for blind or partially sighted people
Nine year old Mihika designed the Smart Stick so that partially sighted or blind people can walk safely by themselves.
The Smart Stick first Prototype
The Smart Stick uses sensors to detect obstacles and puddles. It connects to a mobile phone with Bluetooth to get navigation alerts using GPS System/maps. It has a rechargeable battery, and camera using artificial intelligence, LED lights that glow in the dark so that people can spot the Smart Stick and its user in the dark.
Mihika's has created a 3-D printed prototype but it does not have all the features that she designed due to lack of funding. We need your help and support to build Smart Stick with all the features. Please support her project with as little or as much as you can donate.
Mihika's Smart Stick Story
Mihika is a 9-year-old compassionate, curious and caring girl. In 2016, Mihika and her mum, Manisha were visiting a local park. Manisha was helping a blind lady cross the road. She forgot to point out a step to the lady and the lady nearly tripped over. This incident made Mihika (then five years old) upset and she decided to make a Smart Stick to help blind people walk safely by themselves.
Although very young, she knew a lot about technology. She would ask lots of questions about how things worked and she watched her elder brother code. Her brother Arnav is a talented coder and has previously won the Tech4Good Awards for AsthmaPi and a Young Scientist Award for VivifyMe.
Mihika would ask Arnav about everything and then try to do it herself. She sketched her initial design for Smart Stick and entered the Primary Engineer Leaders Award competition. She won first prize for her age-group and her design was chosen by University College London to make a prototype. She worked with engineering students at UCL and developed an initial prototype. She also showcased her prototype at a Global Accessibility Awareness Day event and got excellent feedback from visually impaired people.
Why are we crowdfunding
Mihika's Smart Stick has been shortlisted as a finalist in Abilitynet's Awards : BT Young Pioneer Award category. They have given all the finalists a chance to use crowd funding page and enter People's Award.
This is a great opportunity for Mihika to raise the amount she needs to build her prototype with all the features. Please support her by donating as little or as much as you can. Thank you.
Feedback so far :
- "This is a Fantastic Idea and will be very helpful to navigate"
- " It will give us independence "
- " It will be very useful for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease "
- " As size can be customised it will be very helpful even for children "
- " It is so light that it can be very useful for old people "
- " Never heard of water sensor before, it’s a revelation! "
Mihika's vision is to make the Smart Stick into a real product so that it can help those with vision impairment to navigate their way safely and confidently. Around 350,000 people are registered as partially sighted or blind in the UK. (Source: RNIB). Smart Stick uses ultrasonic sensors with vibrating motor and Bluetooth connection with mobile phone to build their confidence in walking alone and alert them to obstacles and puddles in their path.
The money will be used :
To develop the next version of the Smart Stick. The funds will be used to buy electronic components and other materials, engage a hardware and software engineer to develop the next prototype of the Smart Stick and do user testing.
This will allow to secure further grants or funding to fully develop Smart Stick and finally make it available for use.
Thank you for all your help and support.