James Dyson Award: How a student’s question inspired this BTech student to invent voice-enabled Braille printer

A visually impaired student's question sparked innovation from Himaja Lingampalli, a BTech student at Sri Vishnu Engineering College for Women. While visiting a school for visually impaired children, Lingampalli observed students using traditional Braille slates and pins, which required considerable physical effort and memorization of six-dot patterns.

This inspired her to create 'Rudhra', a voice-enabled Braille printing system aimed at making Braille writing more accessible. Lingampalli's prototype initially required students to use push buttons to select Braille characters but was later transformed into a voice-enabled device after a student asked, "Akka, why can't we just speak instead of pressing these buttons?"

The system, named Rudhra, converts spoken words into Braille and prints the corresponding characters, eliminating the need for students to reverse the paper or remember Braille patterns. The project took around one-and-a-half to two years to complete, involving extensive research, trials, and feedback from users. The current version of Rudhra cost around Rs 1.5 lakh to build, but with modifications for student use, the cost could be reduced to Rs 50,000 - Rs 60,000.

Rudhra's design prioritizes practicality and usability for students, with future plans to make the device smaller, lighter, and more portable. Lingampalli's journey from Kuchipudi dancing to engineering innovation emphasizes the importance of following one's passion and applying practical feedback in engineering projects.