Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Printer Head for Embossing Braille Dots on Paper

Jonnatan Arroyo (1) , Ramiro Velazquez (2) , Mehdi Boukallel (3) , Nicola Ivan Giannoccaro (4) , Paolo Visconti (5)

1 Universidad Panamericana
2 Universidad Panamericana
3 LIST (CEA) - Laboratoire d'Intégration des Systèmes et des Technologies
4 Università del Salento [Lecce]
5 University of Salento [Lecce]

This paper presents the design, implementation, and prototype of a low-cost Braille embossing mechanism. The proposal is a printer head integrating three hammers that, upon actuation, stamp readable dots on the paper. Inspired in the rotary cam-follower mechanism, the hammers are actuated by a single servomotor which rotation determines which hammer strikes the paper. Braille characters can be quickly embossed using the proposed printer head. Affordable and efficient Braille embossers for home use can be envisaged using this new action approach.

Mots clés: Assistive technology; Braille embosser; cam-follower mechanism; mechatronic device; tactile printing

Domaines: Automatique / Robotique

Jonnatan Arroyo, Ramiro Velazquez, Mehdi Boukallel, Nicola Ivan Giannoccaro, Paolo Visconti. Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Printer Head for Embossing Braille Dots on Paper. International Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering Research , 2020, 8 (9), pp.6183-6190. ⟨10.30534/ijeter/2020/206892020⟩. ⟨hal-02964960⟩