CAD Drawings

CAD Drawings 2V

Annotated Part Drawing 1 

Assembly Drawing

CAD Assembly Video

Mock-Up Images

this is our first mock-up of our device constructed out of balsa wood to get an early idea of what the device would look like and how even functions.

this device was printed out of very old pla (2 years open) on Ender 3 (wrong profile for this) needless to say this is not a viable 3D print.

During these tests components were thickened and the device was redesigned however the use of a printing place hinge was not viable. Also, the bottom fingers were not the correct length and the component snapped due to the vertical layer lines.

This is a part printed out of petg and is by far is the sturdiest part we have made but due to the printing place hinge failing when flexed due to the bonding nature of petg. Moreover due to the lack of cooling the small detail of the braille dots did not come out very well + stringing.

This design uses a metal hinge pin and endcaps to create a strong hinge. This allows for each side to be printed flat and was the first prototype attached to a phone with magnets.

Testable Parameters

• size 

  • Are people easily able to pull the device out of their pocket and put it back into their pocket without it snagging?

  • To test this we are approaching people and asking them to perform a variety of actions with the device

• durability 

  •  Can it survive the force of repeated use, being dropped / shock forces, and photo degrading/chemical degradation

  • We will test the force needed to bend back a certain distance to make sure it can survive a fair amount of force during use and the wear-down time on the device

• readability

  • Can our test subjects both stamp the braille onto the dollar bill and then be able to read it? We will try to get in contact with someone who is blind for product testing, however, this has been a challenge. But for the most part, we plan to pull people on its readability.

Final Build Procedures Overview

1. Take 3D-printed parts out of the printer and place them in the tub until supports are broken off (takes a lengthy amount of time)

2. use pliers to cut a stainless steel rod (1.5 mm x 300mm) to size so it is the same length as the hinge ends of the base plate (83mm in length)

3. Heat up the rod and press on the end cap onto the end (or superglue it).

4. slide both the base and top plate of the brailler onto the rod so it is touching the stopper on one of the ends of the bar.

5. Cut the rod to so the end is flush with the far end of the device..

6. Heat up the bar and press on the other end cap (or superglue it).

7. use liquid superglue to glue circular magnets (2mm x 8mm) into fitted holes of the top plate and wait for it to dry

8. Put 3mm magnets on 2mm and put super glue on the bottom of the 3mm magnets before putting it onto the back of the phone case.

9. Put a weight on top of the device and phone case before leaving it to dry for a few minutes.

Build Expert List: 

Meade Erickson: Polymer Materials Scientist & Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineer

Christopher Mier: Doctor of Polymer Chemistry

Jim Mishek: Founder of Vista Tech in Vadnais Heights

Build Modifications

During the prototype and mock-up building portion of this project, the team found many features that could be improved upon. One example is the size and spacing of each braille pad for the device; the original 3D-printed version proved to be less stable than desired and had the order of denomination mirrored to be in the opposite order than what the team wanted. With the next prototype, the denomination was switched to gradually increase from left to right and the magnetic holes on the sides of the brailler were switched from a rectangle for bar magnets to circles for the magnets that were on hand. Later on, the team noticed how some parts could punch through paper and make holes; so it was decided that the height of the braille would be altered. According to Christopher Mier, printing vertically will make the braille print cleaner and without stringing. He also said that the material nylon would benefit the team the most. Meeting with Meade Erickson however has given the team more information on materials to use and a new outlook for the device. He said that ABS material would be a better fit because it is less expensive, and he also said that switching from magnets to a compression fit on the phone would be a better choice. Either way, the team decided to reprint the prototype so the braille is much clearer and the $100 braille has a significant improvement in the brailling process. On the other hand, the $1 braille is too strong and punches a hole through currency; this raises the question if it should be cut down by a few layers. But Mr. Henrickson is confident that it is not a problem so the team continued with the design for prototype 6. 

We also strayed away from our cad model during building by printing two end caps and using a metal rod and two end caps instead of the plastic rod and screw cap depicted in the cad model as we deemed it as enjoying to 3d print as we would have to use a Dremel printer or another printer that can take custom g code and edit the g code by hand to make the part strong enough. We decided that this was not worth our time and moved to a simpler solution. Also, we cut off the stops from one of our models to see if it would perform better without them, but all other phisical changes are minor.

Construction Photos

Incremental Testing Photos

Testing Data