This project has the potential to be expanded upon in two main directions, being development in either of the hardware and software directions.
The hardware direction would be what we originally planned in which the device would become independent from the laptop due to having the software run completely on-board. Further polish on the device itself would include 3-D printed housings for the circuitry, wire-sleeving between modules, and a custom PCB in place of a commercial Arduino. A future group could also look for better or more feature-rich LiDARs since while ours were 1-dimensional distance sensors, industrial LiDARs can have 3-D mapping capabilities but are usually more expensive. A rechargeable battery would also be very convenient for the user.
Further software improvements would likely be in the same vein as our project, where on top of the continuous sound channels, they could include features such as using a gyrometer to record what directions were last scanned relative to each other and associate distinct sound cues triggered by certain behaviors such as specific obstacle detection. Sound cues could also be included for events such as turning enough to clear a previously detected obstacle. A more advanced consideration would involve using a more advanced LiDAR system to incorporate SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) techniques in order to cohesively record a mapping of a local indoor environment.
page created by: William Chen