Audio-assisted standalone microcontroller-based Braille System Tutor for Grade 1 Braille symbols

摘要

This paper presents a design of an audio-assisted stand-alone microcontroller-based Braille System Tutor that aims in improving the literacy of visually impaired people especially in the developing countries such as the Philippines. The proposed Braille System Tutor is composed of two single cell, one for reading and the other is for writing of the Grade 1 Braille alphanumeric characters. It was implemented with the use of a Raspberry Pi 2 B+ microcontroller and programmed using the Python language. The program enables to activate the push-pull solenoid to display the Braille pattern for the read mode, and it also activate the tactile switches to be pressed by the user during the write mode. Through hit and miss collection of data, the prototype gives a 100% correct results for read mode - by giving correct Braille pattern. The prototype also gives a 100% correct results for the write mode by identifying if the correct Braille combination entered by the user is correct or incorrect through an audio message.