TACTILE BRAILLIE DISPLAY USING RELAY SWITCH PROJECT REFERENCE NO: 38S0831 COLLEGE MOODBDRI BRANCH GUIDE : MANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING, : ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING : MR. RANJITH H.D STUDENTS : MR. GIREESH NAIR P MR. DHANUSH K MS. NAYANAA RAJ MS. DEEPTHII K.A INTRODUCTION In an information-oriented society, all members of the society have the right to obtain and use the information. Therefore, it is necessary to develop various devices, which can obtain the information by anyone easily. Physically challenged people like visually impaired or deaf-blind people are facing lots of problem while communicating or interacting with other people. To provide a helping hand towards the visually impaired, recent technological growth has been developing different skilled methods to enhance their communication procedures. For reading and writing visually impaired people always use Braille representation of different alphabets, digits, symbols etc. Braille is an important language used by the blind to read and write. It is vital for communication and educational purposes. The scarcity of accessible information mediums for visually impaired people is recognized by many international organizations. But with advancement many products developed, failed to address issues like cost, portability, expanse in mass society and education etc. In order to overcome the above said challenges we designed a tactile braille display using relay switches which simulates the standard Braille display where each character is characterized by six dots made up of small metals or plastic pins which could be vertically moved in upper or lower directions. Such refreshable braille displays allow users to access information in braille, through pins which rise and fall to represent braille dots. As their(the visually impaired) information pathway is solely limited to auditory and tactile sensation, here in our device information is transferred to the person through tactile sensation
achieved by means of finger tips running over rounded pin tips which are mounted over movable part of relay switch. Tactile sensation is one of the most important sensory functions as it replaces the visual sensation of the persons with sight. OBJECTIVE In this project we present a tactile braille display device using Relay switch that allows blind people to access unlimited document. Our objective is to develop a machine which renders the text from a document as tactile braille cells. Here, implementation of refreshable braille tactile displays is designed using relay switches and its advantageous features is the ease in the fabrication and cost effectiveness. The proposed tactile cell of the braille display is based on tactile sensation as it replaces the visual sensation of the person s with sight. Here tactile sensation is achieved using finger tips running over the round-tipped pins mounted over the movable part of relay switch. We first acquire image of the set type document using camera, character from the image is recognized using OCR (optical character recognition).the recognized characters are coded to braille and then send to the tactile board. Computer is used to run the MATLAB code for character recognition. METHODOLOGY In our proposed model, first the softcopy of the required document is obtained using a camera which is mounted on a paper feeding tray. This is followed by character recognition from the acquired image using OCR (optical character recognition). Further, the recognised characters which are in text type format are sent to arduino by matlab. On receiving these characters, arduino compares the same with the database and corresponding binary codes for each character is sent to the shift register wherein each shift register drives six relays. The shift registers here gives parallel output to the relay switches for the serial input received from arduino.
Fig 1. Schematic Diagram for proposed model These are implemented as tactile displays by means of round-tipped pin attached to the relay switches. In relay switches, when a current flows through the coil, the resulting magnetic field attracts an armature that is mechanically linked to a moving contact which results in the movement of pins. Here tactile sensation is achieved using finger tips by sensing the up and down movement of pins in accordance to the characters displayed. In this way, the blind and visually impaired can read without any external help. Fig 2. Block diagram of proposed model
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION The designed element as seen in methodology has been implemented accordingly as shown below. The tactile cell has been developed using relay switch. Fig 3. Paper feeding tray To place the paper under the camera a paper feeding tray has been designed in such a way that users can easily insert paper. The web camera is mounted over the feeding tray. Using CFL bulb the box has been illuminated. The hardware connection of the project is shown in Fig 4. Which shows the connection from output port of the Arduino to the serial port of shift register. These connection are done by using wires with male and female pins. We also have designed a Bridge Rectifier circuit to convert AC to DC using step down transformer. The PCB has been designed to place the shift register. The figure also shows the connection between the shift register ad tactile cell.
Fig 4. Hardware connection The whole Project set up is as shown in the fig 5. The entire project is divided into three parts namely Paper feeding tray, Hardware Architecture and Matlab programming. Fig 5. Whole Project Setup
FUTURE SCOPE Some of the desirable features in braille displays includes good controls, being well designed ergonomically, portability, and connectivity. Broader ideas for how braille display technology could be improved is to develop new technological innovation which could reduce the cost and perhaps lead to multiline displays. Improving ease of use and allowing modular upgrades gives a way to thought. The wide range of uses of braille displays and the benefit they are too many, in both work life and leisure activity. Respondents suggest useful controls a braille display could have, particularly for advancing the next line of braille. Wheels are popular, rather than buttons. Experiment can be done to make it a standalone device. An upgraded system with internet connectivity also can manufactured where the input is given through braille device and got output through braille device. Connectivity to a range of devices was also desirable.respondents suggested a range of connections they would like to use including to mains power, mobile phones, and computers, and suggested various means of connecting such as through USB ports, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.