RangePing

Prototype
Prototype

Inspiration

By looking at young visually impaired people within our communities, and the worry their caretakers and parents have to often experience, we looked for a product which could ease such worries and give them peace of mind when it came to their children.

What it does

RangePing is the ultimate peace of mind for parents of visually-impaired children. With RangePing, you'll never have to worry about your child's safety again. The device attaches to your child's walking stick/wheelchair and uses a sensor to detect nearby obstacles and send automated text messages to the caregiver(s)' phone when your child is getting too close to something that could be dangerous, along with beeping to alert the child. This way you'll always know if your child is safe, even when you're not with them. Say goodbye to constant supervision, and hello to the freedom and peace of mind that comes with RangePing.

How we built it

We used Arduino, along with using Twilio API and Temboo for sending SMS messages.

Challenges we ran into

Some of the major challenges we ran into were communication due to the team members being physically apart, along with creating a viable working product in the limited time duration.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're glad that we finished this in time! This project has a multitude of benefits for families with visually-impaired members: ease of use, increased independence and self-esteem for the child, real-time notifications, cost-effectiveness and peace of mind. This project also has a lot of scope for further development and improvement, so the possibilities are endless when it comes to how we can make this even better!

What we learned

Apart from gaining more experience with Arduino and message sending APIs, we've also gained a better understanding of how to approach creating projects for positive social impact.

What's next for RangePing

1) Creating a smaller form-factor for easier installation
2) Providing caregivers more detailed information in message alerts
3) Expanding from not only SMS messages, but also a full-fledged application interface
4) Making it easier to add phone number recipients of the SMS messages