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Francesca’s Status Report for Nov 22

This week, I worked with Abby and Bella to integrate the software set up in Python with the hardware running via Raspberry Pi. On Monday, I placed the final orders needed for the project, and we received them on Wednesday. This order included mini breadboards, buttons, a speaker, and a Raspberry Pi specific camera to be used for BrailleMate. The rest of the week into the weekend, Abby and I connected the camera to the Raspberry Pi and confirmed that it works! We were then able to update the Tesseract code– how it works is that the Raspberry Pi camera takes an image called “photo.jpg” and puts it in a folder. This will always be the only image in the folder, as with every new scan, it is rewritten. Tesseract processing is then run on the image, and it produces “translation.txt” which is the English text version of the image. We will then use my python script that I wrote a few weeks ago to process translation.txt into the pins needed to have the Braille printing.

We were also able to integrate button pressing mechanisms for having the servos run, which is what will do the printing, albiet with a bit more of a lag than desired. We are integrating the button pressing for taking the picture tonight, as well as the audio output to interact with the user.

Next week is Thanksgiving break, but we intend to continue our work next week. We are taking BrailleMate home with us and will continue to work via FaceTime. Something we are a bit behind on is the housing for our product so that it is attractive for the user. We intend to complete that portion after Thanksgiving Break.

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Team Status Report for November 22

This week, we received the final main order of components. All subcomponents are coming together; a risk right now is the ease of integration. That will be the focus of this week as we plan the optimal way to start pulling components together. Our design has not changed, and with all the pieces, we can move forward at a faster pace. We’ve been meeting more outside of class and will continue to do so until the end of the semester. With the code working on CMU’s campus, the team will be able to work more efficiently instead of asynchronously. This week, we will begin to put our final presentation together and set goals for what we will have completed by the presentation date.

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Abby’s Status Report for Nov 22

This week, we received our last round of purchases. I worked on editing some of the STL files for the pin selector to address issues from the demo. I also began joining parts more stably together with screws. Additionally, I figured out how to work with the Raspberry Pi with the CMU wifi that previously gave us issues. This week we will continue working on integration and final prints of the components. I’ll specifically focus on getting the final version of the pin selector working to pass on to be integrated with the mapping code. Additionally, I will print out the wheel that will be driving the tape through the device.  We are still a little behind because of the HAT delay, but see a clear path forward at the moment.

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Francesca Cain’s Status Report for November 15

This past week, I worked primarily on preparation for our Interim Demo, and compiling the software work I had completed thus far into our slide deck. I’ve also spent some time debugging the code I have written for translating English text to Braille. Admittedly, I unfortunately had the flu, so I did not fully achieve all of the Tesseract testing this week that I planned to accomplish. Next week, I will get back on track by conducting this testing and taking pictures of medicine bottles for Tesseract to “read”. Next week,  I plan to spend time ordering final parts for our product– that is, our camera, buttons, and speaker, and will spend time helping Abby and Bella to integrate these hardware pieces on a breadboard to work with the Raspberry Pi and the software aspects of our work. The buttons will help provide a tactile response and mechanism for blind users to confirm a photo being taken, and the speaker providing audio (not visual) feedback.

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Francesca Cain’s Status Report for November 8

This week, I was able to essentially finalize my work on the Tesseract for use with OCR. I have utilized hundreds of public, research grade documents and images, including ~200 from FUNSD (Form Understanding in Noisy Scanned Documents) and ~1.3k from Tobacco800 (complex document image processing test set from Illinois Institute of Technology), which seemed to have about a 95% accuracy rate. I suspect this is largely because stock Tesseract is trained mainly on printed text, so its models and language priors don’t match handwritten cursive, which is what is often in FUNSD and Tobacco800. When I tested it on the Open Food Facts dataset, which is much closer to our use case (printed, commercial packaging to be scanned) and closer to what Tesseract was trained on, the accuracy rate was closer to 99%, which is our intended goal.

I’ve also written the bulk of the code for mapping Braille dot patterns to actuator sequence, but still need to more comprehensively test this, using both written test cases and with the physical BrailleMate device.

My progress is on schedule, and I am excited for how the project has come together! In my group, I have been responsible for much of the software, which has been interesting to learn about. In coming weeks, I will need to keep testing Tesseract on physical bottles, not just online datasets. Now that Abby has largely set up the Raspberry Pi, I will also need to update the Braille dot pattern code to work with our hardware, rather than just my Python test cases.

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Bella Woodard’s Status Report for November 15

This week I created and 3-D printed our Embossing head. Additionally, I updated  the Fusion designs for the handle and encasing of our device.

Embossing head: 

Handle Grip and Encasing Design:

My progress is only slightly behind. I planned to order a battery this week, but didn’t get the chance.  Next week, I plan to order our battery supply, finalize the Fusion model for the device base on Monday,  and begin 3-D printing our handle. Additionally, I aim to order our labeling media, so we can begin to print braille text.

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Team Status Report for November 15

This week we are on track and focused on successfully completing our demo. We worked with presenting partially virtually, but the demo sessions went well. We met our goal for what we wanted to show: a function Tesseract, a proof of concept for the pin selector, and an early design of the base. The main goal was to show how the wheel will raise/lower the pins. The group spent most of the week together for the demo, but this coming week will continue again working on the separate components. Towards the end of the week, the goal is early integration of testing the mapping code with the functioning pin selector.

There needs to be continued work for editing the Raspberry Pi code over CMU wifi, but it is functioning with other methods, so this is not a critical issue at the moment. We will be printing early designs of the top of the embosser and the base.

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Abby’s Status Report for Nov 15

This week we were focused on our demo. We laid out a presentation and practiced to ensure we would remain in time. I continued work on the embosser and started work machining better pins for our device. We will most likely need to put an order for wires in if we can’t find enough in the TechSpark scrap bins, but so far we have found enough. With the HAT, this week I will be focused on incorporating and running all three servos and soldering the pins for the HAT. Bella and I will continue to work on printing the rest of our 3D components and work towards a complete first prototype.

This week we will reflect on how the demo went and where we can improve presentation strategies for our final one.

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Bella Woodard’s Status Report for November 8

This week I created sketches and preliminary Fusion designs for the handle and encasing of our device.

Handle Grip and Encasing Designs:
[Link]

My progress is on schedule. Next week, I plan to select the most suitable design approach and finalize the Fusion model for the device base. Additionally, I aim to order an uninterrupted power supply for our Pi 5 and begin integrating the battery to move toward a cordless design.

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Team Status Report for November 8

This week we are on track and focused on our goal for what we want to show in our demo. There is no design change at the time. For our demo, our goal is show a functioning Tesseract read a series of label images. For the mechanical side, we will show the functioning pin selector and the first half of the wheel mechanism. We started splitting the work with Bella and Francesca continuing to work in the lab and Abby working in TechSpark. We additionally work towards creating a final design for the handle of the device, figuring out the best orientation of the components.

There were some issues with the Raspberry Pi booting with CMU wifi, but when brought home, it functioned with home wifi. A possible issue could be ensuring the device will continue to function without wifi. The 3D prints (about a third of the device) only took about 90 minutes to print, so there will be no issue with timing when needing to create multiple iterations of the prototype.