This 13-Year-Old Built a Revolutionary Product -- With a Lego Kit -- to Help Blind People
When Shubham Banerjee learned that the average Braille printer can cost upwards of $2,000, he knew there had to be a way to make a more accessible version. So, armed with a Lego robotics kit, the 13-year-old set to work creating one.
His printer, which costs around $350, took about a month to build and was completed in time for Shubham to showcase it at his school’s 2014 Science Fair, his father, Neil, told USA Today. But the teen didn’t stop there. Using components from a desktop printer and an Intel chip with WiFi and Bluetooth technolgogy, Shubham created a prototype for the printer, which he then took to Intel. A couple months later, the company agreed to back his project.
With help from his parents, Shubham created his own start-up company, Braigo Labs (a combination of the words “braille” and “lego”), which is currently working on a printer design to manufacture on a larger scale.
Shubham’s design weighs just a few pounds, compared with existing versions that can weigh more than 20 pounds, The Associated Press reported.
Shubham’s goal is to make the printer widely available so people who are blind can buy an assembled version in stores.
Watch Shubham demonstrate his incredible invention in the video below.
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Rachel Kassenbrock is an Associate Editor at The Mighty. She recently graduated from the College of Wooster with a degree in English, and has previously written for the Ms. magazine blog and LifeinLA.com. She now lives in Los Angeles where she enjoys live music, being outside and all things coffee-related. You can follow her at @rkassenbrock or email her at rachel@themighty.com.
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