Raghav Ganesh, a seventh-grader from San Jose, California, was named one of America's top 10 youth volunteers of 2015 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.
Ganesh started a quest to help the visually impaired by focusing his attention on the white canes used to detect obstacles in their path.
"I saw how, despite being used for several centuries, the white cane does not provide users enough information about their environment," said Ganesh.
His device clamps onto the cane, uses ultrasonic and infrared sensors to detect obstacles more than six feet beyond the end of the cane and communicates this information to the user through vibrations in the cane's handle.
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For his efforts, Ganesh was one of the 10 middle and high school students named America's top youth volunteers for 2015 at Prudential's 20th annual Spirit of Community Awards on May 4.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards programme represents the US' largest youth recognition programme based exclusively on volunteer community service.
This year's winners were selected from a field of more than 33,000 middle level and high school youth volunteers nationwide.