A compact wearable dual-band quasi-Yagi RFID-reader antenna is designed for being incorporated into a smart glove. The antenna dual-band capability allows the integration of both the RFID reader at UHF band and a wireless data link at 2.4 GHz, into a single compact and wearable device. Dipole and loop antennas are combined into a quasi-Yagi structure to be placed on a hand back, in order to detect tagged objects close to the hand palm and fingers, during the operator normal activities. The dual-band driven element consists of a rectangular-shaped folded dipole (resonating at the ETSI UHF RFID band, 865–868 MHz) and a rhombus-shaped folded dipole (resonating at the WLAN band, 2400–2485 MHz). A few parasitic elements (reflector and directors) are included to focus the field in the required direction, namely out of the worker’s hand. A prototype of the proposed textile antenna is developed on a stretchable fabric and its performance is measured in terms of read range and near-field distribution, at 868 MHz, and radiation pattern and gain at 2.45 GHz.

Wearable Dual-Band Quasi-Yagi Antenna for UHF-RFID and 2.4 GHz Applications

A compact Yagi-Uda antenna suitable for near field UHF RFID smart gloves is proposed in this paper. Proposed structure consists of a compact driven element of circular shape and three parasitic elements. Parasitic elements are used as directors to direct the magnetic field in a particular direction. The simulated performance of the proposed antenna is compared in terms of input impedance matching and field distribution with the segmented solenoid antenna already proposed in the scientific literature.

Design of a Compact Yagi-Uda Antenna for Near Field UHF RFID Smart gloves

Visual Impairment is something that most people experience in their day to day life. With the rise of technology, more hardware and software can be studied and created to assist those people with such disability. Visual Impairment can also be referred to as vision impairment or vision loss; Infrared radiation is invisible to human eyes, but people can feel it as heat. With today's technology, it can be used to make it useful and assist us in our daily life. Infrared radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation and part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Infrared energy or infrared light is not visible to the human eye but if can be seen using special cameras that translate light into visible colors. In fact, our own body radiates far infrared energy through our skin at between 3 and 50 microns. This study developed an application that can help guide the visually impaired using mobile devices and in the same way, making it more accessible to them. The study also aims to find a different approach on how IR sensors can be used. It can also be used in detection and navigational purposes. The developed system named "Sight-Man", has the purpose of applying infrared technology to aid those with visual imparity using mobile phones and an application that runs using Android-based smartphone.

Sight-Man: A Smart Infrared Technology that Guides the Visually Impaired

Recent studies have focused on developing advanced assistive devices to help blind or visually impaired people. Navigation is challenging for this community; however, developing a simple yet reliable navigation system is still an unmet need. This study targets the navigation problem and proposes a wearable assistive system. We developed a smart glove and shoe set based on radio-frequency identification technology to assist visually impaired people with navigation and orientation in indoor environments. The system enables the user to find the directions through audio feedback. To evaluate the device’s performance, we designed a simple experimental setup. The proposed system has a simple structure and can be personalized according to the user’s requirements. The results identified that the platform is reliable, power efficient, and accurate enough for indoor navigation. 

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A Wearable RFID-Based Navigation System for the Visually Impaired

Visual impairment is one of the disabilities of a human being. To date, numerous methods have been proposed to enhance the life style of visually impaired and blind people. Still, purchasing products in the supermarket without others support is tricky one for them. In this work, a Smart Store Assistor for visually impaired people is proposed. Three major concerns such as locating the product, identifying product and buying the product are addressed in this work. The System consists of 3 modules namely Product Identifier, Smart Glove and Smart Trolley. Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID) is used to identify the products. In Product Identifier module, a buzzer will ring whenever the required product is located. Smart Glove module is used to scan the product where an audio instruction will detail about the product specifications to the buyer. Further, when the product is placed in the cart, an automated billing system will provide final bill of the purchased products. Design and hardware implementation of the working prototype model has been demonstrated in the proposed work.

D. Devipriya

Papers

Smart Store Assistor for Visually Impaired