Patent attributes
The present invention relates to a device and a method associated with helping blind dogs navigate. With respect to the device, it is a set of one or more sensors and stimulators, which provide situational awareness to a blind dog regarding objects and sudden drops in its vicinity, helping the dog freely move about without the risk of collision or fall. The core components of the invention are a distance sensor, a microcontroller, a tactile/audio stimulator, an accelerometer, a power source, a control panel, a body harness, and a head wrap, which, generally speaking, are configured as follows: a frontal distance sensor mounted on top of a blind dog's head using the head band, the lower distance sensor, the stimulators, the microcontroller, the accelerometer, the power source, and the control panel are mounted on the blind dog using the body harness. With respect to the associated method, in order to carry out the method the following core steps are followed: a frontal distance sensor method to detect the objects in front of the blind dog and alert the blind dog when a collision is imminent, a drop sensor method to detect sudden drops in front of the blind dog and alert the dog when a fall is imminent, a velocity calibration method and a velocity computation method determine the movements of the dog based on accelerometer signals, and a velocity compensated alert method adjust and increase the alert distance/time when the dog is moving toward an obstacle or a drop.
