• EXPERIMENTATION ON THE BRAILLE MAP

    Ananya Priya • 02/13/2018 at 15:05 • 0 comments

    There were three experiments which were done while making the braille map

    - Laser Etching

    We tested if visually impaired people can feel the ditches made by laser etching. The tangible feedback was not as accurate as needed so we cancelled this idea and moved on to the other one.

    - 3D Printing

    We did a trial of 3D printing walls and braille text. We canned the idea because of small build volumes and need of intensive calibration for printing braille text.

    - Laser cut elevations

    Finally we used the technique called Laser cut elevation, where we laser cut our entire floor plan on 2.5mm thick MDF and stuck it on the top of another MDF sheet.

    The feedback that we got while testing was very accurate.

  • 3D PRINTER (Braille Embosser)

    Ananya Priya • 02/13/2018 at 14:42 • 0 comments

    3D PRINTER MAKERBOT 2

    ReplicatorG, and a custom text to braille gcode generator have been used for the braille app.

    The main problem faced while testing was the material being used. The testing was done on two different materials i.e, Plastic, and Paper.

    Few difficulties were faced on Paper embossing i.e, paper punching holes which further can be rectified with smooth filing of the nail head.

    Excellent result was achieved in Plastic.

    SOFTWARE

    The software's co-ordinate system was changed to ensure compatibility on any machine.

    The changes which were made are as follows:

    - Translation to make it work on any printer

    - Added the mirroring which is used to work on any machine including 3D printers and CNC's

    NEXT STEP AHEAD

    Make alterations on the plastic embossing tool head (tightening screw) to ensure compatibility on any printer by making minor adjustments.

     TESTING ON DIFFERENT MATERIAL

    Paper

    Plastic

  • ​BRAILLE MAP FOR MAKER'S ASYLUM

    Ananya Priya • 02/12/2018 at 11:32 • 0 comments

    The use of maps is an important skill for all the people to learn. For visually impaired people learning to read a map is an important step towards independence. 

    Here, we have the floor plan of Maker's Asylum which includes all the sections and divisions of the area including the Machines, Tools, Reception area etc. It is this map that will help us develop a simplified version. 

    The map will include braille engravings made using the hack known as BrailleRap along with other graphics and text.