Orientation and positioning with inertial sensors for walking frame guidance

Mobility for blind or partially blind with walking disability is hard to realize. A walking frame assists in movement, but the orientation and positioning for people with restricted visual ability without external help is nearly impossible. They also have trouble with object recognition to avoid collisions and prevent injuries. Therefore there is the need to assist people with restricted moving and seeing abilities, so that they maintain mobility. The application of the Microsoft Kinect sensor is an effective and low cost method to lead people through the environment with detailed depth information offered by an infrared camera. Additionally, with the help of inertial sensors for navigation, an imaging of the surrounding objects and obstacle recognition is possible. In this paper, orientation and positioning of a walking frame by means of an accelerometer and gyroscope is presented and it is demonstrated how these data supports obstacle recognition with the Kinect. The results and benefits for further usage are presented.