HEARING CAR
ENGINEERING FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION
Driving requires us to use all of our senses, not just our vision. Because of this, those with hearing disabilities are unable to experience the enjoyment and convenience of driving as safely as others. Our system seeks to display visually the vital aural information from the surroundings so those with hearing disabilities can drive safer than before.
Team
Siddhant (Sidd) Garg: Electrical Engineering (Class of 2019)
Arya Mirshafii: Computer Engineer (Class of 2020) | Portfolio
Cameron Allotey: Computer Engineer (Class of 2020) | Portfolio
Kuo Huang Kim: Electrical Engineer (Class of 2018) | Portfolio
Patrik Posobiec Perko: Computer Science (Class of 2020) | Portfolio
Reagan Lausier: Industrial Engineer (Class of 2021) | Portfolio
Sanjida Islam: Electrical Engineer (Class of 2020) | Portfolio
Idaho School for the Deaf & Blind
Partner -Â https://www.iesdb.org/
A Continuum of Services
For all youth, birth to 21 years with hearing or vision loss, including those with other disabilities and deafblindness, in the State of Idaho.
The Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind is the center of educational expertise for these children, their families, and local education providers.
Constraints
Budget of $200
Rechargeable battery with support of 1 Week of usage
Compatible smartphone app
Convenient wire-free setup in any vehicle
Hearing Car - Circuit
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The system currently makes use of 3 Electret Microphones which feed information to an Arduino Uno for Location Detection and an Arduino Zero for Sound Identification. Information is forwarded to a smartphone app via Bluetooth. LEDs are temporarily used for visual confirmation and debugging the code.
Hearing Car - Schematic
The Arduino Zero detects frequency to determine if a horn or siren is detected and outputs this decision. The Arduino Uno detects where the sound is coming from and outputs this information. The different combinations of outputs are processed through an AND Gate to light up a single LED which corresponds to a specific location and type of sound. This output is then sent to the smartphone app.
Visual Display
Below is the main screen and the different notification screens that will be displayed on the smartphone app depending on the current output of the circuit.
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Next Steps
Currently, we are trying to fine tune our circuit in order to identify horns and sirens with greater accuracy. Our next step is to purchase higher quality equipment and solder it into a small box that can be placed on the back windshield of a car. Ideally we would like to have those with hearing disabilities test our product and provide feedback to make further improvements.