SBIR Phase II: Tactile Graphic Array

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将进行研究，以开发新的低成本和紧凑的触觉图形显示器和盲文显示器的工作原型。当今占主导地位的技术--由压电式致动器驱动的显示器--有两个主要缺陷。它非常昂贵，每个触摸点大约12到16美元，而且致动器的形状是50到70 mm长的簧片，显著增加了可行的显示器的体积，基本上限制了它们在台式或便携式设备中的单行盲文显示器的使用。在该项目的第一阶段，C.A.Technology对一种新型形状记忆合金单点致动器的设计进行了广泛的研究，并证明了基于该技术的触觉显示器的可行性。这种执行器使用又短又细的钛镍合金线，这将使每个点的成本降至约3至4美元，并将显著减少显示体积，使其能够用于手持设备。第二阶段的工作将包括：1)新触觉阵列的详细设计、建造和用户测试；2)开发软件，将这些显示器与各种便携式和手持设备连接，例如C.A.技术公司自己的便携式指纹读取设备；3)制造工具和设施的初步设计。70年代中期，第一批电子盲文显示器的出现改变了盲人的生活。今天，许多人可以通过可刷新的电子盲文显示器立即和选择性地接触到文本信息。然而，这些设备的高昂成本仍然严重限制了它们的传播。通过降低成本、尺寸和重量，这项新技术将增加盲文显示器的市场渗透率，使更多的盲人和聋盲人士能够接触到盲文显示器，并显著改善他们的就业机会。对例如在数学、化学中广泛使用的图形符号的访问以及对普通图形的访问仍然只能通过速度慢、体积大且非常昂贵的图形压纹机来实现。如果说一张图片“胜过千言万语”，那么一种紧凑、低成本、可刷新的图形触觉显示器为几乎所有智力活动的盲人学生、盲人工程师、盲人物理学家和盲人的生活提供了一个重要的新机会。此外，这对视力低下的人也很重要。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will conduct research leading to the development of working prototypes of new low cost and compact Tactile Graphic Displays and Braille Displays. The dominant technology today, displays driven by piezo-electric actuators, has two major deficiencies. It is very expensive, about $12 to $16 per tactile dot, and the actuator shape, a 50 to 70 mm long reed, significantly increases the volume of feasible displays, essentially limiting their use to single line Braille displays for desktop or portable devices. During the Phase I of the project, C.A.Technology performed extensive research on the design of a new Shape Memory Alloy single dot actuator and has demonstrated the feasibility of tactile displays based on this technology. This actuator uses a short and very thin Titanium-Nickel alloy wire, which will bring the cost per dot down to about $3 to $4, and will considerably reduce the display volume, allowing its use in hand-held devices. The Phase II effort will include the following: 1) detailed design, construction and user testing of the new tactile arrays; 2) development of software to interface these displays with various portable and hand-held devices, such as C.A.Technology's own Portable Print Reading Device; and 3) preliminary design of manufacturing tools and facilities.In the mid-seventies, the appearance of the first electronic Braille displays changed the lives of blind individuals. Today, many have immediate and selective tactile access to textual information through refreshable electronic Braille displays. However, the high cost of these devices still severely limits their diffusion. By reducing their cost, their size and their weight, this new technology will increase the market penetration of Braille displays, making them accessible to many more blind and deaf-blind individuals and significantly improve their employment opportunities. Access to graphic symbols widely used for example in mathematics, chemistry and access to plain graphics is still only possible through slow, bulky and very costly graphic embossers. If a picture is "worth a thousand words", then a compact, low cost refreshable graphic tactile display proffers a significant new opportunity for the lives of blind students, blind engineers, blind physicists and blind people involved in almost any intellectual activity. In addition, it will also be important to those with low vision.