Ernesto E. Blanco, P.E.
Consulting Engineer
Portfolio of Selected Works - Aids for the Handicaped
Direct, Punched Tape to Braille, Continuous Transducer
Client
Department of Health Education and Welfare, Division of Social and Rehabilitation Services. Contracted to the DIvision of Sponsored Research at M.I.T. (1961)
Problem
The intermittent tape to Braille transducer was too slow and cumbersome to operate. A continuous machine had to be designed based on the same principles.
Solution
An endless belt containing solid segments with six pins each was designed. The perforated tape would be driven in synchronism with the belt above and the protruding pins, moving toward the left, would display a line of moving Braille characters. Sounds simple ... but the tape is not dimensionally stable, it is not flat enough, and it breaks easily. The moving belt had to be made compliant, it had to have sprocket pins to drive the tape, and great machining precision had to be maintained. Then the system was motorized and packaged as shown in the photograph above. It runs at over 130 words per minute and has been tested several times in public, although it as never completely evaluated in a formal manner. Project lacked the necessary founds to do it.
This page is maintained by Elizabeth K. Lai
Last Modified on December 12, 1995
