A library at Devnar School for Blind, Hyderabad
A basic braille printer which can print one sheet in 5 mins and costs 3-4 lakh rupees ($4500-5500)
3 long sentences about our solar system, printed with my Brailleogram
Brailleogram is a project started by me to write Braille on high GSM paper or on thin plastic sheets using a 3D printer. The printer head was used to punch holes in the form of Braille letters. Braille letters will get embossed point by point, which was faster and more reliable than that of a human operator and also incomparably less noisy than a commercial Braille printer.
To do this, the text to be printed is first entered in the Braille converter software which converts it into Braille readable on the screen and then instructions for piloting the numerical control industrial tools, the G-Code.
This Gcode is then transferred into a printer control software (Pronter face) to print the content on the sheet.
I wanted to keep it open source because of the fact that many independent hackers own 3d printers, which might not used regularly. Schools for blind need this prints in teaching blind kids and many schools can’t afford braille printers (most of them are imported from Germany, talking about India here). The main motivation for this project is a hope to motivate hackers around the globe contribute to blind children education.
Currently this printer can print at a rate of one sheet for every 20 mins. Though its slow, with improvements in motor speed and bed we can increase it’s speed. The very important thing I’m looking at is using the hot end to punch braille on thin plastic sheets which increases the longevity of the sheets and can be used by students through out the year and paper was a start.