Johns Hopkins students invent printer for Maryland brewery's braille labels

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Engineering students astatine Johns Hopkins University invented a printer for a Maryland brewery that adds braille penning to brew labels, assemblage officials said.

Nonprofit Blind Industries & Services of Maryland (BISM) reached retired to the university's mechanical engineering schoolhouse successful 2024, asking for a printer that could see braille writing.

Inventing a brew label-friendly braille printer

The students began designing and gathering the instrumentality successful September.

University officials said the invention is capable to punch braille substance onto integrative brew labels and different materials that commercialized braille printers are not capable to accommodate.

BISM is the largest leader of unsighted and low-vision workers successful Maryland, according to assemblage officials.

The students were capable to plan the printer truthful that BISM employees with debased oregon nary imaginativeness tin usage it.

Unlike different options, the students' printer has unfastened hardware that makes it easier to operate.

"You tin scope your manus successful and consciousness everything going connected wrong our printer. Having unfastened hardware that allows radical to interaction each the components was important," said Catherine Pollard, a mechanical engineering elder and task squad member. "We truly took into information who would beryllium operating the instrumentality and however they were going to usage it."

The radical of students besides created bundle that helps the printer pass with a braille connection processor and photograph plan bundle that the nonprofit uses successful its office.

"Seeing however overmuch adaptive exertion BISM has already incorporated into their lives was inspiring, and it helped america recognize however our merchandise could slot into their day-to-day work," said Gabriella Hu, a elder successful the Mechanical Engineering Department.

The engineering students printed 400 labels for Blind Spot, a brew crafted by Checkerspot Brewing Company successful Baltimore. The brewery works with BISM for an yearly fundraiser that supports individuals with imaginativeness loss.

The printer should forestall BISM employees from having to usage a manual property to punch braille dots into thousands of labels adjacent year, JHU officials said.