Engineering students at Johns Hopkins University invented a printer for a Maryland brewery that adds braille writing to beer labels, university officials said.
Nonprofit Blind Industries & Services of Maryland (BISM) reached out to the university’s mechanical engineering school in 2024, asking for a printer that could include braille writing.
Inventing a beer label-friendly braille printer
The students began designing and building the machine in September.
University officials said the invention is able to punch braille text onto plastic beer labels and other materials that commercial braille printers are not able to accommodate.
BISM is the largest employer of blind and low-vision workers in Maryland, according to university officials.
The students were able to design the printer so that BISM employees with low or no vision can use it.
Unlike other options, the students’ printer has open hardware that makes it easier to operate.
“You can reach your hand in and feel everything going on inside our printer. Having open hardware that allows people to touch all the components was important,” said Catherine Pollard, a mechanical engineering senior and project team member. “We really took into consideration who would be operating the machine and how they were going to use it.”
The group of students also created software that helps the printer communicate with a braille word processor and photo design software that the nonprofit uses in its office.
“Seeing how much adaptive technology BISM has already incorporated into their lives was inspiring, and it helped us understand how our product could slot into their day-to-day work,” said Gabriella Hu, a senior in the Mechanical Engineering Department.
The engineering students printed 400 labels for Blind Spot, a beer crafted by Checkerspot Brewing Company in Baltimore. The brewery works with BISM for an annual fundraiser that supports individuals with vision loss.
The printer should prevent BISM employees from having to use a manual press to punch braille dots into thousands of labels next year, JHU officials said.
