It's a machine that will convert text input into braille and write it on a A4-sized paper, so people with visual impairment can feel it and will be able to access printed text.
My project incorporate
3D Design
Additive and subtractive fabrication processes
Electronics design and production
Microcontroller interfacing and programming
Who has done what beforehand?
I found several similar projects but the most interesting and also open-source was the one made at fabacademy2018 during a group assignment in the fablab trivandrum, it was a good start to understand what it's all about and also to study the parts I'm going to work on. Also another project that I really liked was Cheap Braille Embosser (La Picoreuse)it's a cheap and an easy to build A4 braille embosser.
What will you design?
I want to make a small brailler printer that can be portable so I'm going to do the mechanical design and of course all the electrical part so that it becomes adequate to the size of the machine.
What materials and components will be used?
Since the lockdown, I can't find some parts on the tunisian market and I can't order them from chinese websites so I've changed many parts and I hope I could buy the old ones because it will make my machine cheaper.
How much will they cost ?
This project, in this case costs 213 dinars (about 75 dollars) but in the case for the Smooth rod and Linear bearing are purchased it will cost a little more (about 90 dollars), noting that abroad (outside of Tunisia) it will be cheaper (taxes on the export of parts are cheaper)
Where will they come from?
I tried to use as many recycled parts as possible. For example, the axes are axes from a used printer. The other parts have to be bought.
What parts and systems will be made?
As I said, the frame of the machine, the end effector and the electronic boards are going to be made. The frame of the machine will be made. The frame of the machine will be made by 3D printing, it contains two parts, one which contains the 2 engines and another which will contain the electronic cards ... The end effector on which I had to put the solenoid and which will translate between the two parts of the frame, there are also parts printed in 3D which will facilitate the positioning of the sheet as well as its movement.
What processes will be used?
Laser Cutting
3D Printing
PCB precision milling
Electronic production.
What questions need to be answered?
Will the custom PCB parts manage correctly the firmware beforehand written for the commercial board Arduino Uno?
is the machine fast enough to write a whole page without annoying the user?
Will increasing its speed affect "writing"?
How will it be evaluated?
Each project is evaluated mainly on its output if we have the same input and the same output as the specifications, we can say that we have a functional machine,of course this certainly depends on the correct writing of the firmware and the management software of the machine as well as the electrical part of the project, there is still a lot of work to do and a lot of effort to achieve the goal. Of course I hope to get there!