Performance Evaluation of Ultrasonic Obstacle Detection and Real-Time GPS Tracking in an IoT Smart Shoe for Visually Impaired Navigation

Juanda Hakim Lubis; Akhyar Lubis; Fajrul Malik Aminullah Napitupulu; Nahdah Salsabiil Damanik; Lathifah Tsamratul Ain

doi:10.55524/ijircst.2025.13.5.7

Abstract

This paper outlines how a smart shoe prototype that can help to guide visually impaired people in a safe manner was developed and tested. This system includes an ESP32 microcontroller, an ultrasonic HC-SR04 sensor to detect obstacles, a Neo-6M GPS to track its position in real time and audio-haptic feedback actuators. It also includes an emergency push button to be informed by IoT using Blynk and Twilio. The evaluation of the performance was performed in an indoor and outdoor setting; the parameters of the evaluation were ultrasonic detection accuracy, GPS accuracy, and notification delays. The system achieved a total F1-score of 84.31 in obstacle detection and was more accurate when it was conducted indoors but not when it was conducted outdoors. The GPS module was an average of 5 meters in open field and 10 meters in cities. The delay of the IoT notification was 3.5 seconds in the indoors and 5.2 in the outdoors, which was satisfactory. These findings demonstrate that the suggested prototype of a smart shoe can be a credible means of visually impaired individuals navigating the environment, though further research must work on enhancing the scope of detection, identifying objects on the ground, and GPS precision.

Keywords

Assistive Technology, GPS Tracking, IoT Smart Shoe, Ultrasonic Obstacle Detection

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Cites this article as

J. H. Lubis, A. Lubis, F. M. A. Napitupulu, N. S. Damanik, L. T. Ain, "Performance Evaluation of Ultrasonic Obstacle Detection and Real-Time GPS Tracking in an IoT Smart Shoe for Visually Impaired Navigation", International Journal of Innovative Research in Computer Science and Technology (IJIRCST), Vol-13, Issue-5, Page No-44-51, 2025. Available from: https://doi.org/10.55524/ijircst.2025.13.5.7

Corresponding Author

Akhyar Lubis

Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Universitas Pembangunan Panca Budi, Medan, Indonesia

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