Summary

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#999933" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03f006e0ddwnfv.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Paperless Braille: A Design using ERFs</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="paperlessbraille.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Paperless Braille: A Design using ERFs"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Summary</B>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Introduction"><U>Introduction</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Project Description"><U>Project Description</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Analysis and Discussion"><U>Analysis and Discussion</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Conclusions and Recommendations"><U>Conclusions and Recommendations</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="References and Acknowledgement"><U>References and Acknowledgement</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Group Members"><U>Group Members</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" background="040bec00esnpes.gif"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="096a0280.gif" border=0 width="160" height="40" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Summary</div> <div>      The Braille system, which was devised in 1821 by Louis Braille, is a method which people that suffer form the sensory disability of blindness use to read and write. This system gives blind people the ability to understand the written word by using the sense of tact. One configuration of the Braille system is a 3 by 2 dot cell, whereby a blind person can feel the dots of each cell, and know which character that specific configuration represents. Braille systems are useful when dealing with characters that don't move or change such as those in books, magazines, and newspapers; but are useless when dealing with paperless media, such as, computers.</div> <div> Recent advancements in technology have made the use of computerized systems a necessity in modern society. These advancements, especially the development of the internet, have made information accessible to any person. This has raised the need for paperless refreshable tactile displays, to give blind people the ability to read digitalized information. Although, refreshable tactile displays have been developed they have proved both very large and costly. It is for this reason that new advancements in the development of smaller, portable and less costly refreshable tactile displays are necessary.</div> <div> It is toward this purpose that the research project was conducted. This report gives a detailed description of the methodology used in developing the preliminary design of a refreshable Braille tactile display using electrorheological fluids. Electrorheological fluids are used because for their unique behavior, in hopes of developing a design that is more effective than other designs that are currently on the market or in developmental stages. The final result of the preliminary design complete with dimensions and engineering drawings is also included, along with the analysis which led to said design.</div> <div> Electrorheological fluids are fluids which have a stimulated response when a      certain change in voltage is applied to them. For the purpose of this design, the stimulated response is that when a change in voltage is applied to the fluid, the properties of the fluid change to a solid with specific yield strength. This stimulated response will be used as a technological advantage to design an refreshable Braille tactical display that is both smaller and more user friendly than current electronic Braille tactile display models. </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>