Comprehensive Subway Navigation System



Stuyvesant High School, New York, NY

Brookline High School, Brookline, MA



The Comprehensive Subway Navigation System (CSNS) is a system to help visually-impaired people navigate the subway system. Currently, visually-impaired people have to memorize the layout of subway stations they use. This means having to memorize where every platform, staircase and turnstile is before being able to use a station. The CSNS works through small, directional infrared light emitters strategically placed at turnstiles and staircases. An infrared receiver attached to the front side of a person's body commands an attached CD player according to the signals received. The CD contains thousands of tracks, the signal instructs the CD player to play the one track which corresponds to the location of the emitter. The track played is a short message telling the person wearing the CD player where the trains, staircases, turnstiles, elevators, etc. are located relative to the visually-impaired person's location. Implementation of a public program in which subway stations would be equipped with CSNS infrared emitters would fulfill the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 which guarantees that all public transportation systems be accessible to all disabled persons.

Students: Simcha Blaustein Robert Lendvai Alexander Selkirk Rebecca Onie (Brookline) Teacher-Advisor: Richard Realmuto