In this article, the authors present a model and a method of determining thermal parameters of a single point of the thermal touch screen for the blind and thermal parameters of selected parts of a human hand. Blind people, by using this device can “see” a pattern of dots by feeling hot spots. The thermal touch screen for the blind was used as a calorimeter and enables to calculate the amount of heat provided to a finger at a temperature ranging from 8°C to 52°C, that is the full range of temperature detected by humans. The authors designated thermal conductivity and heat capacity of both Peltier micromodule and parts of the user's hand. Results of the presented research allow optimizing the construction of the thermal touch screen for the blind and may be helpful for thermal modelling of the human body.

The paper analyzes the phenomenon of heat transfer and its inertia in solids. The influence of this effect on the operation of an integrated circuit is described. The phenomenon is explained using thermal analogy implemented in the Spice environment by an R-C thermal model. Results from the model are verified by some measurements with a chip designed in CMOS 0.7 μm (5 V) technology. The microcontroller-based measurement system structure and experiment results are described.

This article presents a system of precise navigation for a visually impaired person which uses GPS navigation and an infrared sensor in the form of an infrared matrix. The presented system allows determining the orientation and distance of a blind person relative to a selected object, e.g. a wall or road edge. The application of the above solution facilitates a significant increase in the accuracy of determining the position of a blind person compared to the accuracy offered by commonly used ground satellite devices. The system uses thermal energy accumulated in the environment without the need to generate additional signals. The main parts of the system are a simple infrared matrix, data processing system and vibrating wristband. Messages and navigation warnings are sent to a blind person in the form of a vibration code. The article describes the method of determining the path of a specified width and distance from the wall of a building, curb, etc., along which a blind person should move. The article additionally describes the method of determining the orientation of a blind person depending on the selected object. Such a method facilitates verifying whether the visually impaired person is moving according to the indicated direction. The method can also be used to navigate mobile robots. Due to the use of natural energy for data registration and processing, the mobile navigation system can be operated for a long time without the need to recharge the battery.

Robots that can comprehend and navigate their surroundings independently on their own are considered intelligent mobile robots (MR). Using a sophisticated set of controllers, artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning (DL), machine learning (ML), sensors, and computation for navigation, MR's can understand and navigate around their environments without even being connected to a cabled source of power. Mobility and intelligence are fundamental drivers of autonomous robots that are intended for their planned operations. They are becoming popular in a variety of fields, including business, industry, healthcare, education, government, agriculture, military operations, and even domestic settings, to optimize everyday activities. We describe different controllers, including proportional integral derivative (PID) controllers, model predictive controllers (MPCs), fuzzy logic controllers (FLCs), and reinforcement learning controllers used in robotics science. The main objective of this article is to demonstrate a comprehensive idea and basic working principle of controllers utilized by mobile robots (MR) for navigation. This work thoroughly investigates several available books and literature to provide a better understanding of the navigation strategies taken by MR. Future research trends and possible challenges to optimizing the MR navigation system are also discussed.