Reconfigurable PDA for the Visually Impaired Using FPGAs
Curtin University Brailler (CUB) is a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) for visually impaired people. Its objective is to make information in different formats accessible to people with limited visual ability. This paper presents the design and implementation of two modules: a print-to-Braille transl...
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| Format: | Conference Paper |
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IEEE
2008
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5521 |
| _version_ | 1848744820419330048 |
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| author | Zhang, Xuan Ortega-Sanchez, Cesar Murray, Iain |
| author2 | Silvia Ceballos |
| author_facet | Silvia Ceballos Zhang, Xuan Ortega-Sanchez, Cesar Murray, Iain |
| author_sort | Zhang, Xuan |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Curtin University Brailler (CUB) is a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) for visually impaired people. Its objective is to make information in different formats accessible to people with limited visual ability. This paper presents the design and implementation of two modules: a print-to-Braille translation system and a Braille keyboard controller. The translator implements Blenkhorn's algorithm in hardware, liberating the microprocessor to perform other functions. The Braille keyboard controller along with a low cost keyboard provides users with a note-taking function. These modules are used as intellectual property (IP) cores coupled to a 32-bit MicroBlaze processor in an embedded system-on-a-chip (SoC). In its current implementation, the microprocessor uses a hierarchical interrupt scheme to coordinate IP cores. A prototype of the complete embedded system is under development using Xilinx's FPGAs. The system is a potential platform for the development of embedded systems to assist the visually impaired. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:07:32Z |
| format | Conference Paper |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-5521 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:07:32Z |
| publishDate | 2008 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-55212017-10-02T02:27:19Z Reconfigurable PDA for the Visually Impaired Using FPGAs Zhang, Xuan Ortega-Sanchez, Cesar Murray, Iain Silvia Ceballos Assistive technology FPGAs visually impaired aid Curtin University Brailler (CUB) is a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) for visually impaired people. Its objective is to make information in different formats accessible to people with limited visual ability. This paper presents the design and implementation of two modules: a print-to-Braille translation system and a Braille keyboard controller. The translator implements Blenkhorn's algorithm in hardware, liberating the microprocessor to perform other functions. The Braille keyboard controller along with a low cost keyboard provides users with a note-taking function. These modules are used as intellectual property (IP) cores coupled to a 32-bit MicroBlaze processor in an embedded system-on-a-chip (SoC). In its current implementation, the microprocessor uses a hierarchical interrupt scheme to coordinate IP cores. A prototype of the complete embedded system is under development using Xilinx's FPGAs. The system is a potential platform for the development of embedded systems to assist the visually impaired. 2008 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5521 IEEE fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Assistive technology FPGAs visually impaired aid Zhang, Xuan Ortega-Sanchez, Cesar Murray, Iain Reconfigurable PDA for the Visually Impaired Using FPGAs |
| title | Reconfigurable PDA for the Visually Impaired Using FPGAs |
| title_full | Reconfigurable PDA for the Visually Impaired Using FPGAs |
| title_fullStr | Reconfigurable PDA for the Visually Impaired Using FPGAs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reconfigurable PDA for the Visually Impaired Using FPGAs |
| title_short | Reconfigurable PDA for the Visually Impaired Using FPGAs |
| title_sort | reconfigurable pda for the visually impaired using fpgas |
| topic | Assistive technology FPGAs visually impaired aid |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5521 |