OmniSense | Devpost

Go for a walk

Inspiration

After talking to southwest research institute, we found the radar technology they used were very interesting and was applicable to individuals in underrepresented communities. Individual who are visually impaired can use radar technology as a way to avoid obstacles and live an independent way of life.

What it does

OmniSense uses radio waves to sweep in front of the carrier, if an obstacles is detected in front of the carrier, we will calculate the distance depending on how long it took for the wave to return, thus allowing the user to roam independently without any assistance, pushing the limits of accessibility.

How we built it

Our tech stack includes extensive simulation experiments conducted in MATLAB, along with python scripts written to conduct pre processing of the data. For the visualization, we have researched and individually animated, frame by frame, of a 25 second visualisation outlining our vision and test results for this concept.

Challenges we ran into

Our current techstack did not include the tools needed to fundamentally create the program. All of the project was programmed in MATLAB which none of us had experience in. Additionally, the animations we created were animated in Adobe Animator and the vector images were made in Adobe Illustrator which none of us also had experience in. We had to build the proof of the concept brick by brick through learning from the basics till the advanced level.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are truly proud of the animated visualisation we did, over a short period of time. It came out well and spoke the future of our vision
We have identified the most optimal ways to simulate physics experiments in MATLAB, along with being able to integrate mathematical functions through coding in it.
We learnt how to simulate monostatic radar system in MATLAB and be able to configure it in ways that is the most beneficiary for our vision.

What we learned

Our top learning achievements, which we are proud of, are understanding how radio systems function and be able to use them effectively in different ways. Second, our front end team learnt animation and motion graphics, from the ground level in a very short period of time, and be able to get the visualisation done. Finally, we learnt how important and powerful MATLAB is in advanced radio communication system preparations and other significant computations.

What's next for OmniSense

In the future, we envision OmniSense to be a tool ranging from robotic purposes to an accessibility tool. Possible applications can be attaching the radar to land rovers or drones to dive into tunnels for mapping or to rescue survivors in disasters. We were considering to make this proof of concept, an MVP and improve the accessibility of the people in need.