3D printing speeds R&D for Braille Doodle tool for the blind

A new tool for the blind is nearly ready for mass production thanks to 3D printing research and development.

The ABS-based Braille Doodle allows users to write in Braille through an array of hundreds of holes, each of them with a smooth metal ball that can be pulled to the surface by a magnetic stylus.

One side of the device focuses on Braille with examples of letters, numbers and words. The other side is more freeform, like an "Etch-a-Sketch for the blind," Daniel Lubiner, inventor, founder and executive director of the TouchPad Pro Foundation, told Plastics News.

Inspired by his work as a special education teacher during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lubiner transitioned from teaching to pursuing designing and marketing the Braille Doodle full time.

All students struggled to transition to learning at home via the internet during the pandemic, Lubiner said. But blind students had "nothing in front of them" and had to continue their studies "through phone calls."

"I was teaching art to blind and low-vision kids," Lubiner said. "They inspired" his idea to create "something the kids could have in front of them to use either in order to make art … or to help them learn how to read and write."

The Braille Doodle became Lubiner's life's ambition, he said.

"Pandemic or no pandemic, only 10 percent of blind or low-vision kids are learning how to read and write Braille. … It opens a whole world to be able to use this technology. … They'll be able to start on the road of literacy."

Lubiner based the "Braille side" of the device on how educators typically teach reading, he said.

"Start with the sounds and letters and the phonics," he said. "Demonstrate letters and have the student repeat the letter."

The "doodle" side can be used for free writing in Braille or "tactile drawing," where users to create shapes they can feel on the device.

The TouchPad Pro Foundation is working with Proto Labs Inc. of Maple Plain, Minn., to design the final prototype of the Braille Doodle using 3D printing with a black, ABS-like material, said Keith Carter, customer quality engineer at Proto Labs.

The Braille Doodle's metal balls sit on top of two plastic "fingers" that act as a spring and hold the balls in place until they're firmly pushed down, Lubiner said.

"Proto Labs has been there pretty much from the get-go," he said. The Braille Doodle began as a "large" 3D printed prototype. There's also a Braille Doodle Mini, Lubiner added.

Through 3D printing, he said, "we can experiment with what works. … What is it going to take to hold the balls up just right so when a blind person touches them, they don't fall. But when they push it, they do fall."

In one earlier iteration of the device, ball bearings unintentionally fell through the springs. Proto Labs helped fix that flaw by changing the printing parameters and editing the shape of the plastic lip holding the ball in place, Carter said.

3D printing is perfect for "small features and tight tolerances … [of] thousandths of inches," he added.

"The beauty of 3D printing is you can print the design and check" if the product works or needs to be improved, Carter said. "You can make those tweaks and run it again. You're not investing a ton of money into a mold right off the bat."

The TouchPad Pro Foundation received a $6,000 grant toward research and development from Proto Labs. The grant was a part of its "Cool Idea Award," which was launched "to help propel projects to the finish line with the help of our digital manufacturing services," Brent Renneke, marketing and communications manager, told PN.

The award is being repositioned to be specific to university-related projects run by student groups or on-campus research, Renneke said. Lubiner was one of the final recipients not currently associated with college-level research.

"Prototyping … can get very expensive for a nonprofit or a new company," Lubiner said. "Having help from Proto Labs, getting the cool idea award and the grant" shortened the design period of the Braille Doodle.

The design period "took a lot more money and time than I thought," he said. "That's why I started a nonprofit."

In total, he raised about $70,000 for the project. The design process cost about $55,000, Lubiner added.

More than 500 units have been ordered via a Kickstarter campaign and the TouchPad Pro website, he said. About $40,000 from the presale will be used to start mass production.

The devices will ultimately be injection molded in ABS, Lubiner said, with a manufacturer in India at a "low cost per unit. … When you're starting something off, you want to get the price down."

Lubiner said he hopes to "bring [production] stateside again," someday.

Schools, nonprofits for the blind and individuals of all ages hope to get their hands on the device, Lubiner said.

"I was focusing more on children in the beginning. But adults have also been picking this up," he said.

Adults who go blind later in life are "encouraged to learn Braille, but it's very difficult at that age because your fingers aren't as sensitive" and can't acquire the knowledge as quickly as children, Lubiner said.

The device could help them "learn the basics of Braille," he said. "Adults who are blind or low-vision love the idea of being able to draw again or play with their grandchild and let them learn about Braille."

Once mass production of the Braille Doodle starts, the device should be "relatively inexpensive," Lubiner said. It can be purchased for $80 on the TouchPad Pro Foundation's website. That price is likely to double at retail, he added.