SUGISAKAMASANORI

Journal of Advances in Artificial Life Robotics
Vol. 4(2); September (2023), pp. 89–93
ON LINE ISSN 2435-8061; ISSN-L 2435-8061
https://alife-robotics.org/jallr.html

Research Article

Design of Intelligent Elderly Crutch-Based System Based onSingle Chip Microcomputer and Raspberry PI
Zongxuan Zhang, Jianhao Hu, Yizhe Sun, Yizhun Peng

College of Electronic Information and Automation, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, China.

ARTICLE INFO
Article History
Received 20 December 2022
Accepted 01 October 2023
Keywords
Elderly care industry
Intelligent crutch
STM32Raspberry pieAPP
Mqtt server

ABSTRACT

In order to strengthen the development of China's elderly care industry, the project has designed
an intelligent crutch based on stm32 and raspberry pie. This product adds many functions on thebasis of general intelligent crutches. It is equipped with real-time GPS monitoring and uploading
APP. When the elderly fall, they can immediately and automatically alarm. When they fall, they
can simultaneously emit an alarm sound of about 100 decibels to the surrounding. It provides atouch screen, supports voice recognition, and can achieve multiple functions. It is equipped witha step counting function, temperature and humidity display and other functions. This product uses
a 5G module to communicate with the mqtt server, and then sends it to the APP through the server.

© 2022 The Author. Published by Sugisaka Masanori at ALife Robotics Corporation Ltd.
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

1. Introduction

alarm: after the crutch falls to the ground, it will send an
alarm at about 100 decibels and upload it to the APP at thesame time to remind users [2]. Many elderly people can'tadapt to smart phones. This product can be used to calltheir children by voice one button, making communication
between children and elderly people more convenient andfast [3]. This product also provides a touch screen andspeech recognition [1], [4], which can display time andcurrent position, and can play music through the touchscreen. You can also listen to plays on your daily trip [5].
Many elderly people have inconvenient legs and feet andare not suitable for too much walking and physicalexercise. Through the step counting function of thisproduct, they can get the exercise time of the elderly in realtime. When the exercise reaches the standard, they can beprompted to have a proper rest. The steps of the elderly andthe ambient temperature and humidity will be transmitted
to the screen in real time. Finally, this product is equippedwith video camera and flashlight functions, so that users
can fully monitor the elderly to ensure that their rights andAt present, the trend of aging in China is getting worse. Inorder to protect the due rights and interests of the elderlyin China and comply with the development of AI, anintelligent crutch with AI elements has been designed. At
present, society is developing rapidly, and the elderly
should also be able to enjoy the convenience brought bytechnological development in their daily lives, just likeyoung people. However, considering the differences inlearning abilities between the elderly and young people, as
well as the various social problems they may face in reality,
we specifically aim for simplicity and develop a cane, acommonly used item of the elderly, as a carrier, focusing
on creating an intelligent and convenient productIntegrated new era intelligent elderly care products. Firstof all, this product is equipped with GPS technology forreal-time monitoring and uploading to the supporting APP[1]. There is no need to worry about the elderly getting lostwhen they go out. Second, it is equipped with a one button

Corresponding author’s E-mail: pengyizhun@tust.edu.cn URL: www.tust.edu.cn

89interests are not violated, so that the fraudsters can notescape, and night travel can also be guaranteed [6], [7], [8].
Fig.1 is a real product diagram, and Fig.2 is a 3D modeling
diagram.

APP application is designed on Android system, which
is mainly divided into three interfaces. The main interface
is the status interface, with step counting display, heart rate
and blood pressure display, temperature and humidity
display, connection status display, and music switching
function. The second interface is the alarm communicationinterface, which has the functions of receiving alarm,
dialing with one button, and manual shutdown. The thirdinterface is the GPS system, which calls the Gaodenavigation API to monitor the crutch positioning
information in real time. The data is transmitted to the mqtt
server through a 5G network and then distributed to theAPP, enabling real-time updates. Fig.4 is an APP display.

Fig.1 Real product diagram Fig.2 3D modeling diagram

2. The System Design
2.1. Embedded system design

Fig.4 APP display

First of all, the sensor data collection part is dominated bystm32. We distribute the controller in the upper part of thecrutch and the sensors around the controller. When thesensor data collection is completed, the result is sent tostm32. After stm32 completes receiving and processing, it
is sent to the 4B end of Raspberry Pie again. Raspberry Pie
4B is responsible for the output and interaction part as wellas the communication with the APP. On the LCD
resistance touch screen, we carry a self-designed UIinterface to achieve the interaction design of various
functions, supplemented by a voice control system. By
using the speech extraction function on the speech
recognition module and the speech recognition algorithmon Raspberry Pi, the work can understand the user's
meaning and provide feedback to achieve specificfunctions. Fig.3 is the design framework.

3. The Hardware Design
The hardware system is roughly composed of raspberry pie
4B, stm32f103, sensor, 3.5 inch LCD resistance touch
screen, 5G module, MP3 module and crutch body. The
raspberry pie 4B and stm32f103 are used as the core
hardware system, in which stm32 receives and processes
signals from various sensors, such as temperature andhumidity sensors, gyroscopes, acceleration sensors, andsends them to raspberry pie. The raspberry pie part isconnected to the LCD resistance touch screen, 5G module,
MP3 module, and stm32 sends data to the raspberry pie
through the serial port, then the raspberry pie is used as atransit, and then sent to the client.
Camera: Equipped with a web camera on the cane, you
can access and view the video stream of the camera forsimple monitoring.
Light: A small flashlight and manual switch are installedat the front end of the crutch grip.
Alarm: It is set on the upper end of the cane, which canbe triggered automatically or controlled by manuallypressing the switch.

Fig.3 The design framework.2. APP system design904. The Software Design

satellites, process them with stm32, convert them into
longitude and latitude information, and then transmit themto Raspberry Pi. Fig.7 is the schematic diagram of GPS.

4.1. stm32
The main function of the program is to read and process
the data of each sensor, and communicate with the serial
port of Raspberry Pie. The stm32 uses the query method toread the relevant sensor data. However, considering thepriority of the fall alarm, we need to use the interrupt
processing for the gyroscope module to ensure that it takes
effect at the first time. After data collection, send the data
to Raspberry Pie to complete a cycle structure.
Step counting function: through the data acquisition of
the gyroscope and accelerometer, the stm32 completes thedata analysis. Gyroscopes and accelerometers can stably
obtain the user's current posture through data fusion
attitude solution algorithm, thereby completing thefunction of step number collection and statistics. When thegyroscope senses the vibration amplitude higher than thethreshold value, it sends a decision command. At the sametime, when the accelerometer senses the change of thecenter of gravity, it also sends a decision command. Whenboth commands are true, the decision is successful, and thesteps are increased by one. Otherwise, it skips thecommand and the program moves forward. Fig.5 is theprinciple of step counting.

Fig.7 The schematic diagram of GPS.

Data exchange: STM32 and raspberry pie exchange data
through serial port. STM32 and raspberry pie crossconnect TXD and RXD ports. STM32 sends the data of all
sensors to raspberry pie by serial transmission, allowing
raspberry pie to complete data collection. Fig.8 is theprinciple of data communication.

Fig.8 the principle of data communication

Fall alarm: When the amplitude of vibration collectedby the gyroscope exceeds a certain threshold or the datacollected by the accelerometer exceeds a certain threshold,the alarm will immediately send an alarm, and the signal
will be sent to the Raspberry Dispatch controller using an
external interrupt. Fig.9 is the alarm principle.

Fig.5 The principle of step counting

Temperature and humidity sensor: after the temperatureand humidity module collects data, it is converted intoCelsius and relative humidity units through ADC A/Dconversion, and collected by stm32. Fig.6 is the schematic
diagram of temperature and humidity module.
Fig.9 the alarm principle

4.2. Raspberry pie
The program mainly completes data receiving andsending, voice recognition, and smart screen functions.
Raspberry Pie communicates with stm32 through serial
port, and communicates with APP through 5G network.
With 5G network, communication function and alarm
signal transmission function can be realized in addition toFig.6 schematic diagram of temperature and humidity module

GPS positioning: The GPS module can achieve satellite
positioning function, receive GLL statements from91

data transmission. With the touch screen, GPS, time, MP3
and alarm call functions will be freely selected andinteracted. The voice recognition module shall also beequipped. After the voice mode is opened on the screen,
the above functions can be called by using voice.
Music playing: After connecting the MP3 module andspeakers, Raspberry Pi can play music online through thenetwork or play music in MP3 format locally through a tf
card, and use the touch screen or app to complete music
demand, volume, and pause functions. The external
speaker can realize voice output, music playing and alarm.
Fig.10 is the MP3 module PCB diagram.

Fig.12 the schematic diagram of the voice module

4.3.APPThe APP program is mainly composed of threeinterfaces. The first is the device information part, which
consists of the connection status of the device, the controlof MP3 music, the temperature and humidity, steps, heart
rate and blood pressure of the sensor. The sensor data
comes from the collection and processing of stm32. Afterthe cane falls, there will be color changes to indicate
warnings. The second part is the alarm part, which cancontrol the opening and closing of the alarm of the crutch,
and the lower part is also equipped with a call answering
module. The third part is GPS positioning, which isconnected to the navigation API of Gaode, and the fastnavigation function is set. The GPS module transmits thelongitude and latitude information collected to the APP
through the raspberry pie, and then the APP searches forthe position of the crutch according to the data.

Fig.10 the MP3 module PCB diagram

Network: raspberry pie uses the 5G wireless network
communication module to connect to the local networkbase station, realize the Internet of Things function, andcomplete some functions and remote communication withthe APP. Fig.11 is a 5G module.

5. Conclusion
After testing, the product can operate normallywithout obvious problems in each module.
Fig.11 5G module

References

Screen and voice recognition: Connect to Raspberry Piewith the touch screen, draw and import UI icon bycomputer, and realize UI interaction function by Raspberry
Pie. After the voice module is connected, its relevant
parameters will be set in advance on the module. After
recognition is completed, the obtained voice text data willbe sent to Raspberry Pi. After debugging to the bestperformance, voice control can replace the operation of thesmart screen. Fig.12 is the schematic diagram of the voicemodule.

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Authors Introduction
Mr. Zongxuan Zhang
He is currently an undergraduate ofTianjin University of Science andTechnology. His research field issoftware design.

Mr. Jiahao Hu

Mr. Yizhe Sun

He is currently an undergraduate ofTianjin University of Science andTechnology. His research field isembedded system.

He is currently an undergraduate ofTianjin University of Science andTechnology. His research field isembedded system.

Dr. Yizhun Peng
He is an Associate Professor in Tianjin
University of Science &Technology. He
recevived a doctor’s degree in control
theory and control engineering from theInstitute of Automation, Chinese
Academy of Science, in 2006.His
research field is intelligent robot andintelligent control.

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