[NFB-Talk] Printing Braille ON 3D Printer (Was: Asking questions)

[John Heim]

A little more background on our project.

My collaborators and I are working on an open source code library to 
generate braille with a 3D printer. Our language of choice is OpenSCAD. 
OpenSCAD is a free, open source utility for creating 3D printer files. 
It has it's own programming language.

What we have so far is an interface that allows you to send it braille 
characters encoded as a string of numbers and it generates 3D braille 
characters.

For example, if you want to print the word, "Hello", you would send it 
6,245,15,123,123,135. You can also send it the unicode braille 
characters for dot6, dot245, etc.

So with this interface, you can really print any 6 dot braille you like 
as long as you know how to do the transcription. The next thing we want 
to do is to add a layer that allows you to send it plain text which it 
transcribes into the appropriate string of numbers. So you send it 
"Hello", and it returns 6,245,15,123,123,135.

We are working on drawing dots so that they both conform to the ADA 
specifications and so that they are most easy to read. I am going to 
judge this myself, mostly, but I will be sure to check with my blind 
friends as well.

As far as the transcription goes, we figure what we have is better than 
nothing. And our interface allows you to bypass the transcriber if you 
like. You can send it a string of numbers representing UEB or G2 US 
English braille or whatever else you want and it will draw the 
characters. This is itself a vast improvement over any other code we 
could fine. All the other braille libraries we found could only draw 
characters for the English alphabet. Essentially, they did a rudimentary 
form of braille transcription but it was only for the letters a through 
z. So if, for example, you wanted to draw a number sign, dots 3456, you 
would have to modify the code. So instead, we just started from scratch.

The first layer of the code is almost (but not quite) ready for 
publication yet. However, if anyone would like to stay informed about 
the project, just send me an email at sconnie.johnnie at gmail.com and I'll 
keep you in the loop.

Please feel free to forward this info on to anyone you think might be 
interested.


We intend to make our transcription code as close to perfect as 
possible. But again, if you don't like our transcriber, you won't have 
to use it.



On 9/5/22 12:46, Steve Jacobson via nFB-Talk wrote:
> John,
>
> There are several options.  I gather from your example that you are looking for answers to translation questions.  There is a lot of information about Unified English Braille (UEB at
> www.brailleauthority.org
>
> However, the rules for UEB are something like six braille volumes if embossed, so I am guessing that you are looking for quicker solutions.
>
> NFBNET has a list for discussing general topics surrounding braille, and there are people on that list who are certified transcribers or proofreaders who might be willing to answer questions.  You can get more information about that list and subscribe at
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-braille-discussion_nfbnet.org
>
> You can probably get some questions answered indirectly by downloading Braille Blaster from the American Printing House for the Blind.  It is a free braille translator and it shows how text is going to be translated in real time by having a text and a braille window.  Obviously, if you already have access to the Duxbury Braille Translator, you don't need Braille Blaster.
>
> Finally, if your goal is to create braille signage for commercial use, it is really a good idea to find a certified braille proofreader or transcriber to check the results.  I believe there are guidelines for braille signage but I can't locate them right now.  I hope this helps.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Jacobson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nFB-Talk <nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of John Heim via nFB-Talk
> Sent: Monday, September 5, 2022 12:04 PM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: John Heim <sconnie.johnnie at gmail.com>
> Subject: [NFB-Talk] Where to ask questions about braille transcription?
>
> I suppose this is a long shot but does anyone know where would be the best place to go to ask questions about braille transcription?
>
> I am working on a project to create braille with a 3D printer. We have code to take braille characters and draw the appropriate dots. But we don't have a way to take plain text and transcribe that into braille. My collaborators are asking me all kinds of questions about the rules for transcribing plain text into braille and I simply don't know the answer most of the time.
>
> A good example is the string ABCs, that is Capital ABC and lower case s.
> Liblouis transcribes that dot 6, dot 6, abc, dot 6, dot 3, s. But I think it should be dot 6, dot 6, abc, dots 5 and 6, s.
>
>
>
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