ELECTRICAL BRAILLE PAGE OUTPUT DEVICE USING NITINOL SMA

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS A PAGE-FORMAT, ELECTRONIC-ALLY CONTROLLED BRAILE OUTPUT DEVICE FOR BLIND COMPUTER USERS. EACH DOT, SIX OF WHICH CONSTITUTE A BRAILLE CHARAC- TER, IS ACTUATED BY A SHORT LENGTH OF FINE-GAUGE WIRE. THE WIRE IS MADE OF A SHAPE-MEMORY ALLOY: NITINOL. THIS METHODHAS PROVEN FEASIBLE FOR A SINGLE DOT. FURTHER RESEARCH WILLCOMBINE SIX DOTS INTO A STANDARD-SIZE BRAILLE CHARACTER MODULE AND INCORPORATE CHARACTER MODULES INTO A MULTIPLE- LINE FORMAT. METHODS OF WIRE-DRAWING WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR PRODUCING THE SMALL-DIAMETER NITINOL WIRE REQUIRED. A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD FOR INSERTION INTO AN IBM-PC (OR ALTERNATIVELY FOR THE APPLE-2E) WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR DRIVING THE OUTPUT DEVICE; APPROPRIATE SOFTWARE TO DEMONSTR-ATE THE CAPABILITY OF THE SYSTEM WILL ALSO BE DEVELOPED.