Technical development of an electromechanical braille labeler

The work presented in this thesis concerns the development of an electromechanical device that prints labels in braille. For blind and visually impaired people, differentiating between similarly-shaped objects - CDs, medication bottles, food cans, etc. - is a challenge that can be solved by affixing braille labels to the surface of these items. However, the existing technology for making braille labels is either fully manual and slow, or too large to be portable. As a result of this identified need, the first prototype of a braille labeler was developed in the fall of 2008. However, several outstanding mechanical and design issues remained. During this thesis, the first prototype was tested with focus groups to identify these issues. These included the lack of a cutting mechanism for the tape, the uncomfortable shape and size of the device, and the ease of manufacturing of some components. A second prototype was designed and built, resolving these problems.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Calbry-Muzyka, Adelaide S

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David Wallace.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54527

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/54527