This week, our team worked through our plan for what materials we were going to order and ones we could borrow. We looked into the Raspberry Pi AI HAT add-on to improve speed in our OCR processing, but decided we could move forward with regular Raspberry Pi for now and circle back if needed. For the embosser, we worked through two different ideas. The first is to take an existing handheld Braille embosser and use it as a base. Onto the base, we would add motors to make it automated. However, this comes at a time cost and after the TA meeting, we decided to move this to a back-up option. The plan we are moving forward with is a embosser we make. This will include three pins that emboss half a Braille character and a system for moving the label tape forward.
In addition to this planning, we worked through our design presentation. We will take the notes from our proposal presentation and apply them to the new presentation. We will additionally focus more on our mitigation plan.
Part A, written by Francesca Cain:
With respect to public health, safety or welfare, our project aims to improve the lived experience of the blind and visually impaired community. Most clearly in terms of safety, the ability to easily and quickly scan a flat label to create a braille label has applications in pharmaceutical safety. If a blind patient is unable to clearly see a medication label, and with many prescription bottles being the same standardized shape and size, this increases the likelihood of mistaking or potentially overdosing on a prescription medication. This can be life threatening. In terms of general welfare, this product improves living independency for those who are visually impaired, reducing need for a sighted partner or aid for assistance.
Part B, written by Abigail Gredell:
This project addresses a social gap of a lack of braille translation tools. Most devices require the help of a sighted person, and this device aims to provide independence to the user along with the base functionality. It supports greater inclusion in the house, at work, and in other communal spaces. It in general brings awareness of accessibility needs and helps people work thorugh social barriers.
Part C, written by Bella Woodard:
Our device addresses economic factors by making braille printing and labeling more accessible and affordable. Current commercial braille embossers are often prohibitively expensive, bulky, and limited to institutional use. This places a financial barrier on individuals in the blind and visually impaired community. Our design aim is to reduce production costs and provide a scalable solution that could be distributed at a fraction of the cost of existing embossers.