Recent submissions

Comment · 8 days ago
Please do elaborate, i am very much interested in how you did it.
Comment · 2 months ago
Comment · 10 months ago
Wear it like a belt while attaching it to the laptop (If you don't mind looking a bit ridiculous).

Although I'd highly recommend putting some cloth around it, or fitting it through the belt loops of jeans/trousers to soften the inevitable 'yank' when it comes.

Comment · 3 years ago
I will preface this by saying that i never built anything related to this, nor am i visually-impaired so take whatever i say with a grain of salt. However i have been interested in the subject on & off for quite sometime following some hype around Braille tablets a decade ago. (which sadly never materialized)

> 30 units of display thingy

They are usually called "Braille Cells" (sometimes called "piezoelectric braille cell") and have 8 dots (instead of the usual 6 for books) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Braille_Code] These cells are comprised of 8 levers. The "Dot" rises when a voltage is applied to a crystal that expands due to the piezo effect/bimorph.

Here is a video of someone taking apart a couple of them and showing the insides, driver etc.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmwFsTLkpa8 (it's not an in-depth look but just to get an idea)

You can read about how it works in more details here : https://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/9307/InTech-Analysis_and_des...

Okay now what? Well you could acquire some from ebay like this one i guess https://www.ebay.com/itm/255908240759?hash=item3b9551dd77

Or try to find something from Metec, i have seen their P20 as well as the B11 Module used with arduino projects several times, here is the website https://metec-ag.de/en/produkte-braille-module.php

They also sell "Braille Lines" which are combos : cells + backpanel/driver : https://metec-ag.de/en/produkte-braille-zeilen.php (If you find a way to buy them i would greatly appreciate you sharing it)

PS : These cells use 200V DC to work so your project will need a DC-DC converter. You can search for similar speccs to the official one on aliexpress or whatever https://metec-ag.de/downloads/dcdc-converter-5to200v.pdf

Finally you would need a brain for all this which could be the raspi directly or you might opt for using the raspberry-pi (for the ebook manipulation, character-to-dot conversion etc.. unless you decide to pre-format the files) in conjunction with an arduino (for the signal transfer/propagation.. you know sending the dot configuration)

Take a look here for some software inspiration (it also explains the signals the braille module would be expecting but you are better off looking at the Datasheet for anything serious): https://github.com/bertrandmartel/metec-braille-driver#more-...

Good luck.

---- Some more resources :

A nice video from "Applied Science" about a one Cell driver DIY project (He is i believe, using the P16 cell from metec) might help you decide whether to buy a backplane-driver or make your own [also the idea of putting a push-button underneath the braille-cell might be interesting to you for a selection mechanism maybe?] : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss-Fux86doQ

A video showing Metic P20 cells + backpanel + DC step-up converter driven by an Arduino Uno (it has no value other than to hopefully encourage you to pursue this project :D ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zqth08wQBs

Designing Braille System using P20 Braille Cells Presentation (a student project i think with a good overview of the minimum necessary parts and their functions you can skip to the 5min mark to avoid the usual academia-fluff) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAYB0g6LhVM

Comment · 3 years ago
>Unrelated, but Fridman's proclivity for injecting Elon Musk as a discussion topic into the vast majority of his interviews is genuinely weird.

Or Aliens, or asking for the meaning of life.

Comment · 4 years ago
Essentials, classic or fully-loaded version? and does it support ublock-origin?
Comment · 4 years ago
Comment · 4 years ago
Comment · 4 years ago
>There's a lot of room for someone to create good tutorials and material for ramping up and out of Arduino. Would have helped me a lot, at least.

Good news they do exist (at least if i understood your statement correctly), You just need to search with the keywords "AVR", "atmega328", or whichever version you intend to use instead of "Arduino".

I attempted to make a simple PLC this summer and these resources were a great help :

[book] Make: AVR Programming https://www.amazon.com/AVR-Programming-Learning-Software-Tec...

and this complementary (or introductory) video to the book by the author i believe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERY7d7W-6nA

[Youtube-videos] A playlist of Cornell's ECE 4760 AVR Lectures by the very chill "Bruce Land" (from 2012) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD7F7ED1F3505D8D5

The course website (labs, exercises and readings) : https://people.ece.cornell.edu/land/courses/ece4760/index_20...

Homeworks : https://people.ece.cornell.edu/land/courses/ece4760/homework... Labs : https://people.ece.cornell.edu/land/courses/ece4760/labs/old...

Although the course was centered around an atmega16 or something? i really don't recall sorry but the knowledge i gained was invaluable and easily transferable to a 328p.

Fundamentals of Microcontrollers - Arduino bare-metal breakdown (A playlist of a guy "Mitch Davis" exploring an atmega328 barebone and using tools like AVRdude etc..) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNyfXcjhOAwOF-7S-ZoW2...

Atmel Programming Tutorial (by Chris Dahms ) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoLaqVexEviMZu55Y4JO6...

Hope this helps.

Comment · 4 years ago
Is this done with Home or Enterprise edition?
Comment · 4 years ago
Comment · 4 years ago
Comment · 5 years ago

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