WIDE SWEEP CANE

Organization Name

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION

Inventor(s)

Trudy L. Hewitt of Cary NC (US)

Mauro Marzorati of Lutz FL (US)

Carolina Garcia Delgado of Zapopan (MX)

Jeremy R. Fox of Georgetown TX (US)

WIDE SWEEP CANE

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18337107 titled 'WIDE SWEEP CANE

Original Abstract Submitted

A cane for increased sweep coverage includes a first time-of-flight (TOF) sensor, a haptic feedback generator and a processor. The first TOF sensor is disposed at a first end of the cane and is configured to emit a first TOF beam. The haptic feedback generator is disposed towards a second end of the cane that is distally opposite from the first end of the cane. The processor is configured to receive signal data from the first TOF sensor, determine, based on the received signal data, whether an obstacle is present within the first TOF beam, and activate the haptic feedback generator in a first haptic feedback pattern in response to the processor determining that the obstacle is present. A method for using the cane to detect obstacles is also provided.