Braille Display

A proof of concept, low-cost refreshable braille display.


Who We are

We're team Braille Display, and this project is the refreshable braille display we made over six weeks in a course called Principles of Integrated Engineering at Olin College of Engineering. Our task was to design and build a system that integrates mechanical, electrical, software, and firmware components in just 6 weeks.

Project Goal

Our goal was to build a proof of concept refreshable braille display that is more affordable than current options. Given that our course had a $250 spending limit, this goal was achievable. Learn more about our process

.

What we made

Our braille display device reads text either inputted from a file on your computer, converts it to braille, and then writes each braille letter to physical braille cells with pins for dots. Learn more about our integrated system

.
Final integrated system

System

Learn about the components of the final system!

Cardboard belt in fiberboard housing

Process

Read more about the process and many iterations to make it!

Photo of the 5 teammembers with the middle person holding the Braille Display system

Team

Meet the team who brought it to life!

Important Note

This project was built for an undergraduate engineering class. Our device is not a functional braille display, and should not be built to be used as a refreshable braille display. Since we increased the scale/dimensions of the braille cells, this project is simply a proof of concept. It also does not reliably print the correct letters to match the text the user entered into the system, and is also 4x the standard size of braille. Futher development is needed before this is ready to be used.