After being requested for help by a visually-impaired person who wanted to ride a bike, Nico created an echo device that is used to help determine the location of obstacles in front of the user. Although the method of object-avoidance may seem different, it was already used with success by the person involved, thus the creation of this portable unit to fit on the bike handlebars. It is a device that creates noises that can have the tone and duration adjusted with two potentiometers, allowing the user to adapt it to the current environment. Then they can listed for the beeps and estimate their location. A quick demonstration is in the following video:
Certainly a different approach on object avoidance, however one might suggest the use of a distance sensor. Nevertheless, all the details can be found in Instructables. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
If you're interested in working with piezos for various reasons we have a neat little SOUND: sound and buzzer module:
It can be used as a noise-maker driven by your microcontroller for audible feedback of events, and it can also be used as a knock-detector input to sense events and react to them. Includes a built-in 1M resistor to allow the piezo element to detect shocks. For more information and to order, please visit the product page here.
