Refreshable Braille Display (RBD) is a device that enables people with visual imparity to read digital text through tactile interface. Braille literacy is essential for empowerment of visually impaired people and offers several advantages over auditory aids. Commercially available RBDs have not been able to penetrate the market due to their high cost. Shape memory alloy (SMA) based Braille display is a low cost alternative but faces the challenge of high power consumption, heat accumulation and low refresh rate. This paper discusses the design, analysis and experimental validation of a cantilever based compliant mechanism for SMA based RBD to solve these issues.
Refreshable Braille Display (RBD) is a device that enables people with blindness to access digital textual content through tactile interface. The use of commercially available RBDs is restricted to affluent individuals and organizations due to their high cost, which restricts their penetration in developing nations. Braille displays based on shape memory alloy actuators are a potential low cost alternative but face the challenge of high power consumption, heat accumulation and low response time. This paper proposes an SMA based actuator with a novel latching mechanism to make RBDs. It also discusses the design and production challenges addressed in making the RBD. It further compares the performance of the current prototypes with previous designs of SMA based RBDs.
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