Printerbase News Blog
General News

Lego Braille Printer built by 12-year-old

A forward-thinking 12-year-old has built a low-cost Lego Braille Printer that is far more cost-effective that other Braille Printers currently on the market.

Using nothing more than Lego kit, some simple hardware and a thumbtack, Shubham Banerjee, who is currently a student at Champion School in San Jose, California, built the Lego Braille Printer that he has named Braigo.

The Braille Printers currently available can cost thousands, though, the most expensive component of Banerjee’s model, which he built as part of a science fair project, is the Lego Mindstorm EV3 kit that he used to build the Lego Braille Printer.  The youngster has said that he believes his Lego Braille Printer can be used in developing countries – giving them access to what is usually very expensive technology.

After testing the tip of a pencil and a drill bit, Banerjee decided to use a thumbtack as a printhead for his Lego Braille Printer.  The controller for the Braigo is specifically designed to scroll through the Braille alphabet, with the tactile letters printed using the thumbtack.

The end result is then printed onto a roll of calculator paper and, while the model runs quite slow – each Braille letter takes approximately five-to-seven seconds to print – Banerjee has proved his low-cost idea works perfectly.

Banerjee has revealed that he reworked a printer’s basic hardware and software model to come up with the design of the Braigo – and also explained that he plans to make the Lego Braille Printer open source, so anyone can develop their own version of the Braigo.

An incredible show of ingenuity – we look forward to hearing more of Shubham Banerjee’s invention in the future.

Check out a demo of the Braigo below:

Related posts

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Sam Hughes

Why Is My Printer Offline & How To Fix It

Adam Whitehead

Brother – Labelling Dystopia – ‘Next Time, Label It’

Danial McKenna

Leave a Comment

* By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website.

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our site. By continuing you agree to our use of cookies. Accept Read More