Braille Brick

What it does

The Braille Brick is a portable, programmable device that helps visually impaired children learn braille. It features large, tactile dots that rise and retract to form braille letters that make braille learning more engaging and accessible.

Your inspiration

Through an interview with the Taguig Yakap Center for Children with Disabilities, we learned that traditional braille tools like the slate and stylus are too small for children’s developing fine motor skills. Braille coaches painstakingly build handmade tools from beads, buttons, and tennis balls to simulate larger tactile dots. But these makeshift methods are time-consuming, hard to carry around and not reusable. With one of our team members belonging to the person-with-disability community, this device has become a passion project that hopes to address the lack of inclusive and accessible educational tools for visually impaired children.

How it works

The B-Brick uses an electromechanical system of motors, cams, and followers to display braille characters. A letter is entered via a laptop and sent to a microcontroller, which controls two independent stepper motors. Each motor rotates a camshaft fitted with three custom-designed cams. Every 45-degree rotation of a cam produces a unique pattern of raised or lowered dots by moving followers vertically according to the cams’ profiles. By combining the movement of the two camshafts, the device can simulate six-dot braille characters. And once the pattern is formed, users can now read the character by touch.

Design process

Our team conducted a community analysis by interviewing individuals from the Taguig Yakap Center for Children with Disabilities. Through these conversations, we identified key user needs and defined essential requirements for our device: it had to feature large tactile dots, be durable and reusable, lightweight and portable, affordable, and automated for independent learning. With these in mind, we brainstormed ways to apply our mechanical engineering knowledge to combine these features into a single device. We explored multiple mechanisms before choosing a cam and follower system as a low-cost solution, capable of controlling multiple tactile dots with only two motors. We experimented with different cam profiles and ultimately selected the polynomial method for smoother follower motion. To minimise resistance, we also tested various follower designs, including an original one inspired by a juice box straw! After finalising the electromechanical system as a proof of concept, we focused on the device’s form, ensuring the casing was both portable and safe for children, with rounded edges to reduce injury risk. Throughout the iterative process, the team utilised Fusion360 for CAD modeling, lowering prototyping costs.

How it is different

The usage of an electromechanical system makes the B-Brick easily reusable, configurable, and programmable, as opposed to makeshift alternatives. Traditional braille tools like the slate and stylus are too small for children’s developing motor skills, but the B-Brick’s large tactile dots are designed specifically for children. While existing braille technology can cost up to ₱50000 (~$800), the B-Brick prototype was built for only ₱3300 (~$60), making it far more accessible for schools and families. Its electronic parts are easy to source, and its mechanical components feature simple geometries ideal for low-cost mass production. Lightweight and portable, the B-Brick allows braille literacy to extend beyond the classroom and into everyday life.

Future plans

To further enhance user experience, we plan to develop new features like auditory cues to signal when a letter is displayed and voice input to help children identify letters independently. We are exploring to integrate a WiFi-enabled microcontroller, which allows the device to connect to a dedicated mobile app and eliminates the need for a laptop. In terms of scalability, our goal is to reduce production costs further by mass manufacturing through injection molding. Our team wants to improve our design and expand the B-Brick’s capabilities. The ultimate goal is inclusive and accessible education for visually impaired children everywhere

Awards

The B-Brick has been awarded the Dr. Francis Chua Innovation Award for winning second place at the Undergraduate Project Competition 2025 under the College of Engineering at the University of the Philippines - Diliman.