College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

School of Mechanical Engineering Design & Professional Skills 3 Team No: 8

Supervisor:
March , 2011

Dr. D. W. Hukins

HEIDARI MOKRI, Maryam KALANI, Aria KASHAVARZ, Hamideh KHADIVINASSAB, Hatef MAHERINIA, Amir Hossein MAHMOODI, Nasim NOURI ROOZBAHANI, Ali SAGHAFI, Parsa TALEBIAN MOGHADAM, Amir

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Word Count: 11109

Executive summary
This project is dedicated to design and manage the business of a text to braille convertor device (Embraille). The capability of this device is to convert an input text document to the Braille. The device has overall size of 1608530 mm and total weight of 300 grams. Embraille will be manufactured in China and assembled in Birmingham then it will be shipped to blind societies in Germany and Scotland in distribution phase. The total profit in four years is expected to be approximately 400,000 GBP. The design, manufacturing and business plan sections have been discussed thoroughly in the report.

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Acknowledgement
The group would like to express their deep gratitude for Pro. D. W. Hukins for his patient guidance and constructive comments during this project. The group is also utterly indebted to Mr. Hossein Moghimi for his useful comments on electronics. They also would like to thank to Dr. P. Hartley for scheduling such programme. Furthermore, they are tremendously grateful to RNIB community staff specially Ms. Tara Alexander the senior manager of innovation sector of RNIB for her useful consultations.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 2. Product design and function ................................................................................................... 2 2.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2 2.2. Concept design ................................................................................................................................. 2 2.2.1. Cam-driven cell .......................................................................................................................... 2 2.2.2. Micromotor-driven cell .............................................................................................................. 3 2.2.3. Magnet-driven cell ........................................................................................................................ 4 2.2.4. Decision criteria and final design selection ............................................................................... 4 2.3. Patent search ................................................................................................................................... 4 2.4. Quality Function Deployment .......................................................................................................... 4 2.4.1. Voice of customer ...................................................................................................................... 4 2.4.2. House of quality ........................................................................................................................ 5 2.4.3. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 7 2.5. Material selection ............................................................................................................................ 8 2.5.1. Pins ............................................................................................................................................ 8 2.5.2 Electromagnets ........................................................................................................................ 14 2.5.3. Insulating Planes ......................................................................................................................... 15 2.5.4. Cell casing, fixtures and external casing (top and bottom) ..................................................... 15 2.5.5. External casing (Side) .................................................................................................................. 16 2.5.6. Summary ................................................................................................................................. 17 2.6. Finite element analysis (FEA) ......................................................................................................... 19 2.6.1. Finite element models ............................................................................................................. 19 2.6.2. Loadings and supports ............................................................................................................ 19 2.6.3. Acceptable values of stress and displacement ........................................................................ 19 2.6.4. Results ..................................................................................................................................... 20 2.6.5. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 21 2.7. Electronics aspect and programming ............................................................................................. 22 2.7.1. Logical circuit .......................................................................................................................... 22 2.7.2. Text to Braille convertor GUI (Graphical user interface) ......................................................... 24 2.8. Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) .................................................................................... 27 2.8.1. Severity, occurrence and detection criteria ............................................................................. 27 2.8.2. Analysis and results ................................................................................................................. 28 2.9. Final design .................................................................................................................................... 30 2.9.1. Posed problems and solutions ................................................................................................. 30 2.9.2.How the product works ............................................................................................................ 30 3. Manufacturing systems and processes ............................................................................. 32 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 32 3.2. Processes ........................................................................................................................................ 32 3.2.1. Pins .......................................................................................................................................... 32 3.2.2. Electromagnet ......................................................................................................................... 32 3.2.3. Printed circuit board (PCB) and electrical parts ...................................................................... 32 iv

3.3. Quality control ............................................................................................................................... 32 3.3.1. Pre-assembly quality control ................................................................................................... 32 3.3.2. Post-assembly quality control ................................................................................................. 32 3.4. Production line design ................................................................................................................... 33

4. Business Plan ................................................................................................................................ 35 4.1. Market Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 35 4.2. Production Strategy ....................................................................................................................... 35 4.3. Financial projection ........................................................................................................................ 35 4.3.1. Capital cost .............................................................................................................................. 35 4.3.2. Human resource plan .............................................................................................................. 35 4.3.3. Fixed costs ............................................................................................................................... 36 4.3.4. Variable costs .......................................................................................................................... 36 4.3.5. Shipment costs ............................................................................................................................ 36 4.3.6. Tax ........................................................................................................................................... 36 4.4. Financial analysis ............................................................................................................................ 37 4.4.1. Financing ................................................................................................................................. 37 4.4.2. Break-even analysis ................................................................................................................. 39 4.4.3. Benefit margin ......................................................................................................................... 39 4.4.4. Maturity .................................................................................................................................. 40 4.5. Sales management ..................................................................................................................... 40 4.5.1. Advertisement ......................................................................................................................... 40 4.5.3. Product development .............................................................................................................. 41 5. Life cycle assessment (LCA) .................................................................................................. 42 5.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 42 5.2. Materials ........................................................................................................................................ 42 5.3. Manufacturing ................................................................................................................................ 42 5.4. Transportation ............................................................................................................................... 43 5.5. Usage .............................................................................................................................................. 44 5.6. End of life (recycling) ...................................................................................................................... 44 6. Hazard study .............................................................................................................................. 46 6.1. Material hazard data ..................................................................................................................... 46 6.2. Environmental aspects .................................................................................................................. 47 7. Legal and ethical issues ......................................................................................................... 48 7.1. Ethical issues .................................................................................................................................. 48 7.2. Legal issues ..................................................................................................................................... 48 8. References .................................................................................................................................. 49 Appendices ..................................................................................................................................... 50 Appendix 1: Product Design Specifications (PDS) ................................................................................. 50 A1.1. Scope ........................................................................................................................................ 50 A1.2. Role of equipment or materials ............................................................................................... 50 A1.3. Definitions ................................................................................................................................ 50 A1.4. Relevant authorities to be consulted ....................................................................................... 50 v

A1.5. Conditions ................................................................................................................................ 50 A1.6. Characteristics ......................................................................................................................... 50 A1.7. Product life ............................................................................................................................... 51 A1.8. Reliability ................................................................................................................................. 51 A1.9. Packaging ................................................................................................................................. 51 A1.10. Market ................................................................................................................................... 51 A1.11. Patents ................................................................................................................................... 51 Appendix 2: Drawings ........................................................................................................................... 52 Appendix 3: Project management and minutes of meeting ................................................................. 61 A2.1. Formal meetings ...................................................................................................................... 62 A2.2. Informal meetings .................................................................................................................... 62 A2.3. Examples of the minutes of meetings ...................................................................................... 64 A2.4. Project Gantt chart .................................................................................................................. 66 Appendix 4: FEA results ......................................................................................................................... 67 A4.1. Large pin .................................................................................................................................. 67 A4.2. Small pin .................................................................................................................................. 75 Appendix 5: Questionnaire ................................................................................................................... 86 Appendix 6: Letter from Wohenchun Mechanical Manufacturing Co. ................................................. 87 Appendix 7: Breakeven analysis data .................................................................................................... 88 Appendix 8: Magnet force calculation .................................................................................................. 90 Appendix 9: Packaging sample .............................................................................................................. 91

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1. Introduction
Improving the living conditions of the blind people in societies has always been considered a critical subject to deal with. There were 40-45 million blind individuals in 2004 and about three times this figure suffered from visual impairments. [1] Blindness or low vision affects approximately 1 in 20 adults living in developed countries. [2] The prevalence of visual disabilities will increase during the next 20 years based on world health organization reports. It is estimated that the number of blind people worldwide will reach 76 million in 2020. In case of visually impaired adults, the possibilities for gainful employment are severely limited as is their participation in many social activities. This often causes a loss of social status and self esteem. Subsequently, it diminishes the quality of life of blind and visually impaired people. It is now important to bring the availability of new technologies to help these groups of people to live more independently. [1] Our innovative design (Embraille) will facilitate the route for blind and visually impaired people for using the computers. This device is designed to convert text documents to braille. The business strategies of such product are discussed and sustainability issues were illuminated.

2. Product design and function

2.1. Introduction
In the design procedure, numerous factors were taken into account. The main design features of the Embraille are simplicity, manufacturability and ergonomics. It was intended to keep the design as simple as possible since the simplicity influences the manufacturability as well as the total cost of the product. The easier the manufacturability, the lower the cost. The ergonomics has been considered as casing fillets, casing curves and pin smoothness.

2.2. Concept design

After having various brainstorming sessions and considering the product design specification (appendix 1), the group came up with three concept drawings for designing a device that could help blind people to read through text documents. Each of these concept designs was assessed carefully to understand whether they are capable of being developed or not. Consequently, one final design was selected due to the dominant potential it had for being manufactured with respect to other options.

2.2.1. Cam-driven cell

The concept of cam based pin drivers (figure 1) was taken from internal combustion engines valve timing system. The main parts needed for implementation of this method are: Cams (for each pin) Stepper motors (for each pin) Electronics kit The main process for this design is to write a program for micro-controller which is located in the circuit for controlling the stepper motors. Thus, when user wishes to convert any text to braille, microcontroller would analyze the input command and order the stepper motors to rotate in a predefined timing order. The advantages of this design are: Reliability: Cams are very reliable mechanisms and the failure possibility is very low. Easy to manufacture: Knowing the NC code they can easily be CNC machined from cast grey iron. The disadvantages are: Size issues: The cam and stepper motor assembly would not satisfy the braille standard. As shown in table1 the cell-to-cell distance is 9.78mm. However, the smallest stepper motor has height of 0.68 inch, which would approximately 17mm. [3] Programmability: The timing of cam-based drivers is rather complex. In which a set of calculations should be done, the cumulative errors should be calculated and non-linearity of system should be modeled precisely. This makes the program to be a highly sophisticated code.

Table 1: English giant dot Braille size standard [4]

Figure 1: Cam based concept design

2.2.2. Micromotor-driven cell

The principle of the motor-driven cell is based on electrical position control using a microcontroller, which is programmed by MATLAB or C++ codes. By defining an input as a text the micro controller would recode the text symbols into signals and send them to the actuators. Likewise the cam-based design, micromotor-driven cells are reliable and easily manufacturable. Considering the small dimensions in between the dots (Table 1), the minimum size motor available in the market has 6mm diameter [5], which was not small enough to put 6 of them in the cell.

2.2.3. Magnet-driven cell

The other concept design that was proposed by the group was to push out the pins with electromagnets. The control mechanism would be the same as that in the motor-driven system since they both use two outputs for controlling one pin. Advantages: Can be implemented in very small sizes Simple control program Disadvantages: Manufacturability is rather difficult with respect to previous designs

Figure 2: Magnet-driven cell

2.2.4. Decision criteria and final design selection

Why and how two of the concept designs were rejected and one design was chosen as a final design is crucially important matter to emphasize. Cam based design was first put aside, due to the size issues as well as shaft and bearing design. Moreover, it was estimated that it could not satisfy the design objectives regarding the Braille standards (table 1). Motor-driven concept was predicted to be a satisfactory design. However, by conducting various tests, the group was faced with dimensional problems as the micro-motors are being manufactured in certain sizes (see section 2.2.2.) and they could not be fitted in the braille standard criteria (table 1). The magnet based design, on the other hand, satisfied the design criteria. Therefore, it has been decided to develop this concept idea further.

2.3. Patent search

After finalizing the concept design, a thorough patent search was conducted through various patent websites (i.e. Google patents, Free patents online and patent storm) and several articles. The group could only find a patent (Patent number 4266936), which was quite the same as the intended design. However, it was deprived of the core innovation of Embraille, which is portability. Thus, it has been resolved to continue the design path without changing the main strategy.

2.4. Quality Function Deployment

It has been decided to perform a statistical assessment to evaluate the market potential as well as the customer demands. Targets were blind societies, however, most of them did not respond properly. The group then performed some interviews with some visually impaired people. Afterwards, by designing a house of quality diagram the importance of target requirement was determined.

2.4.1. Voice of customer

group There are numerous methods of gathering statistical data, e.g. customer panels, focused discussions, structured or unstructured customer interviews, self-completing

questionnaires, in-depth customer observation and etc. Initially, the group has prepared a questionnaire and tried to distribute it between some blind societies. However, due to the claim of these institutions that they could not reveal the data regarding the blind people, it has been decided to preform some structured interviews. For this reason the group interviewed some blind people including some students in The University of Birmingham. The main core of these interviews was based on the questions presented in the questionnaire (see appendix 5). Finally, a set of memorandums was to be analysed for extracting the customer demands and respective weights. The tabulated data (Table 2) was used to construct a house of quality diagram.
Table 2: Tabulated interview results

Customer demands Low price Low weight Fast connectivity with computer Mobile Good quality Fast performance Number of characters Fancy shaping Comfortable

Respective weights 4 3 3 4 4 2 2 1 3

2.4.2. House of quality

The regulated house of quality diagram consists of three main stages (Table 3). The top section indicates how design parameters interfere with each other, the middle part represents the relationship between design constraints and customer requirements, and the bottom segment defines the importance of each design criterion.

Table 3: House of quality diagram [6]

2.4.3. Conclusion
As it can be seen from the top section of the diagram, by having the both grade one and grade two braille, the process time will increase, however, the customer comfort rate lies on the short process time. Being easy to use, the device needs to be larger and therefore, heavier. Nevertheless, the lighter the device, it is more likely to be portable, thus, it is more satisfying in customers point of view. Durability of the device, on the other hand, is directly or indirectly dependent on the customer comfort rate and the time of assembling or disassembling. From the technical importance part, it is concluded that customer comfort should be taken into account prior to other design norms. This should be implemented as an ergonomics analysis during the design process. As the scatter plot shows, the second important factor is being easy to use which should reflect itself in the button configuration of device and connectivity to computers. Portability of the device plays a vital role in the design, since the total customer demand weight is sensibly greater with respect to other requirements. The weight of the device is also one of main design parameters which must taken into account in the material selection section as well as the design section. The other factors such as durability and process time are having relatively low importance, since they are falling below the 10% criteria in the technical importance rating. Consequently, these factors should be considered after meeting the more important design objectives. To sum up, the device should be designed in a way that it could fulfill the customers expectations. Portable Lightweight Comfortable Easy to use.

2.5. Material selection

The main parts, which material selection has been conducted on, are pins, electromagnet, insulating planes and casings. The group tried to choose an appropriate material considering the cost as well as engineering properties. Several materials have been compared with each other and with respect to their properties in this regard using CES Edupack (Granta Design Limited, Cambridge, UK).

2.5.1. Pins
Fixtures support pins but they are not equally spaced from both sides (Figure 3). The most probability for failure is in the side where its length is longer. Hence, considering the longer side as a critical part of failure, it can be modeled as cantilever beam. Strength-minimum mass and stiffnessminimum mass of the pin to prevent failure can be considered separately to find the desired material. Constraints are applied to our material selection since length (L) and applied force (F) are specified.

Figure 3: Designed pin using CATIA V5 (Dassult Systemes, France)

For a cantilever beam with circular cross section eqn. 1 to 3 are used: =FL3/ (3EI) Eqn.1 [7] =FLr/I Eqn.2 [7] I=r4/4 Eqn.3 [7] Where , , I and r are elongation, yield strength, second moment of inertia and radius of pin, respectively. Substituting eqn.3 into eqn.1 and 2 will result in eqn.4 and 5: =
!!"!

= ! Eqn.5 !" Finding the mass (m) of the beam in terms of density () and volume (V) can be written as: V=r2L Eqn.6 m=V=r2L Eqn.7 Eqn. 4 and 5 can be rewritten respectively in term of r, which is one of the variable geometry in pins: r= r=
! !!" !

!!"# ! !!"

Eqn.4 [7]

!!"# !"

Eqn.8 Eqn.9 Eqn.10 Eqn.11

(2/3) (1/2)

! !!"

Substituting value of r in eqn.8 and 9 into eqn.7: ! ! m= 16!!! ! ! * !

!!

m=2L*

!" !!

! !

To minimize the mass, the value of the ratio / and /E should also be minimize. Both of these ratios are related to properties of material. A method for selecting material would be putting these ratios constant equal to k1 and k2, therefore: =( )!
!! ! !

Eqn.12

E=( )! By taking logarithm from both sides of equations: ! ! !"#$ = !"#$ !"#!!
! ! !!

Eqn.13 Eqn.14

!"#$ = 2!"#$ 2!"#!! Eqn.15 It is also necessary to add other constraints to material such as high relative permeability because it should be attract by electromagnet and also it has an L-shape so its formability should be rather high to satisfy this condition. Using CES Edupack software (level 2) and applying these constraints, graph of versus and E against can be plotted (figures 4 and 5). From eqn.14 and 15 lines with slope 3/2 and 2 should be drawn, respectively for both graphs to satisfy all conditions:

Figure 4: Material selection chart density versus yield strength, CES EDUPACK

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Figure 5: Material selections chart, young modulus versus density, CES EDUPACK

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Since cost is another important factor in the design process, cost is also considered in terms of price per unit mass into eqn.10 and 11 and repeat the procedure eqn.14 and 15 can be written as: ! ! !"#$ = !"#$ (!"#$% !"# !"#$ !"##) !"#!! Eqn.16 !"#$ = 2!"#$ (!"#$% !"# !"#$ !"##) 2!"#!! Eqn.17 Based on eqn.16 and 17, Figures 6 and 7 can be achieved with CES Edupack (level 2):
! !

Figure 6: Material selections chart, yield strength versus density*price, CES EDUPACK

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Figure 7: Material selections chart, yield strength versus density*price, CES EDUPACK

13

Based on graphs 3 to 6 low alloy steel with CES Edupack 2010, the low alloy steel (AISI 3140) has been chosen due to its: Appropriate Stiffness Appropriate Strength Minimum mass Formability Conductivity Low price Low alloys steel have density of 7860 kilograms per meter cube and relatively low cost of 0.5 GBP per kilogram. The other advantages of low alloy steel are manufacturability in various sizes and having relatively high yield strength.

2.5.2 Electromagnets
Embraille uses 72 electromagnets to display the Braille document in 12 cells. Electromagnets usually consist of two main parts, the core and the winding. Copper seemed to be the most optimized material for winding based on: (figure 8) Low electrical resistivity (1.7-5.1 !. !") Good conductivity Low price

Figure 8: Material selections chart, price versus electrical resistivity, CES EDUPACK 2010

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The group decided to use low alloy steel for the core part. Low price (0.5 GPB/kg) Good relative permeability (4000) Easily machinable

2.5.3. Insulating Planes

Insulating planes are located between the electro magnets to prevent the conflict between two magnetic fields. In material selection criteria, a material with: High insulating degree (Resistivity > 110!" !. !") Light weight Low price Therefore with sketching a graph in which x-axis shows the insulating rate (shown by resistivity) and y-axis shows !"#$%&!"#$% in CES Edupack, some materials with parameters said above are achieved. (Figure 9)

100000

Density * Price

10000

Polystyrene (PS)

1000

Polypropylene (PP)

100

Flexible Polymer Foam (MD) Flexible Polymer Foam (LD)

Flexible Polymer Foam (VLD)

100

10000

1e6

1e8

1e10

Electrical resistivity (ohm.cm)

1e12

1e14

1e16

1e18

1e20

1e22

1e24

1e26

Figure 9: Material selection chart, Electrical resistivity versus Density*price

As it is depicted in the graph polymers have highest rate of electrical resistivity. Therefore, some polymers were compared and finally Polystyrene (PS) was opted due to its: High rate of electrical resistivity (110!" !. !") Low rate of thermal conductivity (0.08 ! !. ! ) Low price (0.61 GPB/kg) Light weight (1040 kg/! ! ) Recyclability

2.5.4. Cell casing, fixtures and external casing (top and bottom)
There are 12 cells in the Embraille, if the weight of one cell increases due to adverse material selection by 10 grams the total weight of the device will increase for 120 grams. Therefore, the right material selection for cell casing and fixtures plays a vital role in decreasing the total weight of the device. A desirable material in this case should have the following specifications: Low density: This device is going to be a mobile device therefore should have a low weight. Easily processable: It should have a good processability so that the desired shape can be applied to it.

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Desirable hardness: The material should be in a way that can resist against normal applying accidental forces, e.g. falling Affordable price

After comparing the materials shown in the above picture, the group agreed on choosing acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) because it has a !"#$%&'!"#$% range between 100 and 1000 and hardness range of 1 to 100, which is a quick and crude measure of its strength (CES Edupack (Granta Design Limited, Cambridge, UK)). Easily mouldable Easily machinable Recyclability Various plastics were compared in this regard and ABS plastic was chosen to be the best material for this end. ABS plastic has a density of 1100 kg per unit volume and can be easily manufactured by injection molding.

2.5.5. External casing (Side)

The side part of the external casing should overcome the impact forces due to unexpected fall of the device. The material selection for this case is presented below. (figure 10,11).

Tungsten alloys

100000

Density * Price

10000

1000

Phenolics

100

Phenolics Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)

0.001

0.01

0.1

Hardness - Vickers (HV)

10

100

1000

Figure 10: Material selection chart, Hardness versus Price*density, CES Edupack

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Non age-hardening wrought Al-alloys

1000

Cast magnesium alloys

Polypropylene (PP)

Tensile strength (MPa)

100

10

Polyethylene (PE) Commercially pure zinc

Dough (Bulk) molding compound, DMC (BMC), polyester matrix

100

1000

Density * Price

10000

100000

Figure 11: Material selection chart, density*price versus tensile strength, CES Edupack

Comparing the specified materials in the figure above, the group decided to choose metals because of their desirable properties such as: Higher tensile strength: which makes the device to have more strength against loads. And also among specified metals, group is going for cast magnesium alloys because: It is one of the lightest metals Low price Light weight Easily castable Easily machinable High tensile strength Recyclable

2.5.6. Summary
The data regarding material selection is summarized and tabulated in table 4. The total material cost and total mass of the device is also calculated.

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Table 4: Material selection table

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2.6. Finite element analysis (FEA)

Failure in vital parts of the system may result in malfunctioning or crash of the device. To prevent this it has been decided to conduct finite element analysis on key parts of Embraille. Failure was expected to occur in the pins. Therefore, the group decided to implement static FE analysis on two pins, one from the lower section of the cell and other from the top section of the cell (Appendix 2). The detailed tables are presented in appendix 4.

2.6.1. Finite element models

Preliminary designs for two pins were created with CATIA V5R19 (Dassult Systemes, France). Using the same software the finite element models with created (figure 12).

Figure 12: meshed modeled of lower pin (left) and upper pin (right) using CATIA V5R19

In modelling the pins a set of three-dimensional tetrahedral elements were used. According to NAFEMS these elements are suited for the cases with asymmetrical shapes. The material for the pins, as mentioned in material selection section, was chosen to be low alloy steel (AISI 3140) with density of 7860 !"/! ! , Youngs modulus of 200 GPa and Poisson ratio of 0.266.

2.6.2. Loadings and supports

There are three different loading for each pin. Magnet force Finger force Weight of the pin The magnet force is calculated in appendix 8 and is 1.444 N. The touching force was extracted from a survey done in this manner. [8] The magnitude of finger force varies between 0.05 and 0.39 N. The group decided to put 0.40 N to analyse the worst case. The gravity applied to the pins was considered 9.81 !/! ! and in downward direction. Moreover, the supports are considered to be clamps. Having this condition the system would be a static system with zero degrees of freedom.

2.6.3. Acceptable values of stress and displacement

The failure criteria for the pins would be stress concentrations higher than endurance limit. For calculation of the endurance limit of each pin Shigleys mechanical engineering book [7] was used. Moreover, for the maximum allowable displacement of the pins the dimensions of upper cell casing was used which is described briefly in this section.

2.6.3.1. Endurance limit calculation

The endurance limit is calculated as below: ! !! = !! !! !! !! !! !! !! Eqn.18 In which, !! is endurance limit, !! is surface factor, !! is size factor, !! is loading factor, !! is ! temperature factor, !! is reliability factor, !! is miscellaneous factor and !! is test specimen endurance limit.

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! !! is usually half of ultimate tensile strength of the steel, which in this case is 790 MPa. Hence, the test specimen endurance limit would be 395 MPa. !! is 4.51!!" !!.!"# for machined or cold drawn material. !! is 1.24! !!.!"# for diameters smaller than 51mm. The other factors were considered to be equal to one since they have negligible influence in this case. Having the diameter of the beam (i.e. 1.5mm) the endurance limit is calculated by multiplying the factors. The result shows that the beam should be able to withstand the stress of 360.97 MPa to be able to have infinite life.

2.6.3.2. Critical displacement criteria

The tip part of pins should be analysed in way that they would not have contact with the casing. The contact would cause unexpected friction forces resulting in jamming or malfunctioning of the device. The diameter of the pin tip is 1.5mm and diameter of casing hole is 2.25mm. By subtracting these values and dividing it by two the distance between pin surface and hole outer surface would be determined. This distance in 0.375mm which also is the maximum acceptable displacement of the pin when it deflects.

2.6.4. Results
As shown in figure 13 the maximum stress concentrations on large pin and small pin are 70 MPa and 64.8 MPa respectively, which are less than the endurance limit of the pins.

Figure 13: Von Mises stress concentration results for large pin (left) and small pin (right), CATIA V5R19

The maximum displacements of the tip of the pins are also smaller than the maximum allowable displacement, 0.0369 mm and 0.0263 mm for large pin and small pin respectively (Figure 14).

Figure 14: Displacement diagrams of the large pin (left) and small pin (right), CATIA V5R19

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2.6.5. Conclusion
Finite element analysis was performed for inspection of any possible failure in the pins. The maximum Von Mises stress concentrations were within the endurance limit of the pins. The maximum displacement of the pins was within the allowable displacement criteria of the pins. The results strongly support the design and material selection section for the pins.

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2.7. Electronics aspect and programming

Embraille is a mechatronics project that involves both mechanics and electronics. Thus, the group designed a logical circuit using Proteus VSM to validate the logic of the electronics used in the device. Moreover, a MATLAB based graphical user interface has been programmed in order to demonstrate text-to-Braille conversion concept.

2.7.1. Logical circuit

Logical circuit in Embraille consists of one microcontroller (PIC 18F452) as a central processing unit and 12 microcontrollers (PIC 16F84A) controlling 12 cells. As shown in figures 15 to 17, the CPU is communicating with each of cell controllers by two pins, one transmitting clock and other transmitting data. The data is transmitted through a RS232 port from MATLAB to the CPU of the device. The CPU then rearranges the data and sends it to the clock pin of the cell controllers as a signal. Furthermore, The signal interrupts the microcontroller, which compels the microcontroller to read the signal. Consequently, the cell controllers send the appropriate logical value to the logic state display.

Figure 15: Logical circuit of Embraille with 12 cells, Proteus VSM

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Figure 16: Main microcontroller subsystem, Proteus VSM

Figure 17: Cell controller subsystem controlling 12 cells, Proteus VSM

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2.7.2. Text to Braille convertor GUI (Graphical user interface)

A graphical user interface was felt necessary to be developed in order to ensure that the textto-braille concept can be implemented. A MATLAB based GUI was developed in this regard. After entering the desired text, the input symbols are compared with the tabulated braille symbols and the final letter, number, symbol or contraction would be sent to the display section as shown in figure 18. The programmed MATLAB code is presented as following.

Figure 18: Graphical user interface presenting a text in braille format, MATLAB

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2.8. Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA)

Table 8 illustrates the failure modes and potential effects of those failures. The analysis has been conducted in order to identify the likelihood of failures, identify the certain design criteria in which the failure is possible and reduce the possibility of failure by certain actions. The group used the template from Meldert Engineering group [9]

2.8.1. Severity, occurrence and detection criteria

The criteria for decision making over how severe the failure is, how much it is likely to occur and how much it is likely to detect this deficiency, is presented in table 5 to 7.
Table 5: Severity (SEV) decision-making criteria
SEVERITY Rank 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Effect rate Hazardous- without warning Hazardous- with warning Very High High Moderate Low Very low Minor Very minor None Criteria Very high severity ranking when a potential failure mode affects personal safety, safe item operation and/or involves non-compliance with government regulation without warning Very high severity ranking when a potential failure mode affects safe item operation and/or involves non-compliance with government regulation with warning Item inoperable, with loss of primary function. Item operable, but at reduced level of performance. Customer dissatisfied. Item operable, but Comfort/ Convience item(s) inoperable. Customer experiences discomfort. Item operable, but Comfort/ Convience item(s) operable at reduced level of performance. Customer experiences some dissatisfaction. Fit & finish/Squeak & Rattle item does not conform. Defect noticed by average customers. Fit & finish/Squeak & Rattle item does not conform. Defect noticed by most customers. Fit & finish/Squeak & Rattle item does not conform. Defect noticed by discriminating customers. No effect.

Table 6: Occurrence (OCC) decision-making criteria

OCCURENCE Failure Rate < 1 in 2 1 in 3 1 in 8 1 in 20 1 in 80 1 in 400 1 in 2000 1 in 15 000 1 in 150 000 < 1 in 1 500 000

Rank 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CPK < 0.33 > 0.33 > 0.51 > 0.67 > 0.83 > 1.00 > 1.17 > 1.33 > 1.50 > 1.67

Criteria Very High: Failure almost inevitable High: Repeated failures Moderate: Occasional failures Low: Relatively few failures Remote: Failure is unlikely

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Table 7: Detection (DET) decision-making criteria

DETECTION Rank 10 Detection rate Absolute uncertainty Criteria Design Control will not and/or cannot detect a potential cause/ mechanism and subsequent failure mode; or there is no Design Control. Very Remote chance the Design Control will detect a potential cause/mechanism and subsequent failure mode. Remote chance the Design Control will detect a potential cause/ mechanism and subsequent failure mode. Very Low chance the Design Control will detect a potential cause/ mechanism and subsequent failure mode. Low chance the Design Control will detect a potential cause/mechanism and subsequent failure mode. Moderate chance the Design Control will detect a potential cause/mechanism and subsequent failure mode. Moderately High chance the Design Control will detect a potential cause/mechanism and subsequent failure mode. High chance the Design Control will detect a potential cause/mechanism and subsequent failure mode. Very High chance the Design Control will detect a potential cause/mechanism and subsequent failure mode. Design Controls will almost certainly detect a potential cause/mechanism and subsequent failure mode.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Very remote Remote Very low Low Moderate Moderately high High Very high Almost certain

2.8.2. Analysis and results

As it can be seen from the table 8 the risk priority number for the failure of the electronics board is 120, which falls in the Caution criterion, and it should be treated in a way that the severity of this failure decreases. The group decided to employ quality control stages in order to check the circuit before and after final assembly of the device to minimize the possibility of failure. (See manufacturing systems and processes, quality control section) Other components may fail in certain conditions. However, since the risk priority number is less than 100 there would be no recommendation for resolving or decreasing the possibility of these failures.

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Table 8: Failure modes and effects analysis table

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2.9. Final design

One would face with numerous problems during the design stage, these problems should be somehow resolved in order to produce a satisfactory design. The group has faced with several problems in this regard and managed to solve these issues. This section has been dedicated to explain briefly the design problems and the respective solutions as well as explaining the final design and how does it work.

2.9.1. Posed problems and solutions

The first problem that the group encountered was the magnetic field influence, which would occur due to the very small gap between two adjacent electromagnets in the cell. The group then decided to put insulating planes between two electro magnets to minimize this influence. The group was first decided to use electromagnet-steel plate mechanism, which was based on gravity, to run the system. However, it has been realized that the device would not work in upside down condition. Therefore, it has been decided to use electromagnet-permanent magnet assembly (which is independent of gravity in mechanism) to overcome this problem. The principle of electromagnet-magnet assembly is explained thoroughly in the How the product works section. The other problem, which was confronted, was that each electromagnet needed to be controlled by two pins of a microcontroller. This would result in using larger PCB and hence the total size and weight of the device would increase. Consequently, the group decided to use only one pin of the microcontroller for each electromagnet. This is done by utilizing the very basic concept of the permanent magnet, which is attracting the ferromagnetic material. This concept is explained in the section below.

2.9.2.How the product works

The Embraille is an easy-to-use product that blind person can work with it only by plugging the universal serial bus (USB) cable to the computer. Via the voice control system of the computer they can drag any text document into the Embraille and eventually they would be able to read the document word by word. The unique ergonomic design provides the blind person to comfortably surf through the braille document for several hours. On the other hand, they can easily switch the text back and forth using the buttons located on the side of the device. Our device consists of twelve cells which each cell represent a character of a word in terms of Braille format. Each cell has six pins, each one acts like a seesaw, which push upward or downward by attracting and repelling of magnet-electromagnet mechanism respectively. The magnet is attached to the pin and permanent magnet is located below the magnet. The total mechanism and parts are shown in figures.19 and 20 the internal design of the device is tremendously simple. By plugging the Embraille to the computer and dragging any text files in it, the installed programme on computer will eventually convert the text document into some codecs that is readable by the central processing unit of the Embraille. The code for each cell is actually a matrix, which has three rows and two columns with 0 and 1 elements. 0 represent that the pin should be pushed downward and 1 indicates it should be pushed upward. The CPU will then be able to translate this code and send some commands to the electromagnets. In the case of upward pin CPU would send no commands because magnet will be automatically attached to steel. In opposite case, the CPU would command to pass the current through the electromagnet to produce the opposite pole of magnet in order to repel it, i.e. pin will be pushed downward. Therefore, some of the pins would be tangible and the repelling force keeps others down, providing the blind person to sense the Braille and understand the text.

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Figure 19: Magnet-electromagnet mechanism of pins, CATIA V5R19

Figure 20: Final design of the Embraille, CATIA V5R19

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3. Manufacturing systems and processes

3.1. Introduction
After finalizing the design, the most important element that should be considered carefully is the manufacturing processes and the manufacturing system. In this section of the report the method of production, then the layout and order of the processes will be discussed and analyzed thoroughly. Furthermore, the quality control and the procedure of assembling the device will be reviewed. The selection of processes and deciding on the layout of the product mechanisms require both design and business experts since one cannot designate these on either design specialists or business group. Therefore, it has been decided to combine design subgroup and business plan subgroup to accomplish this task.

3.2. Processes
The processes were selected considering low final cost, ease of production and most importantly satisfying quality. Embraille consist of several parts, which are made of six different materials. These parts would be ordered from China and assembled in Birmingham in order deliver high quality as well as low cost.

3.2.1. Pins
The pins would be made of bought-in low steel alloy bars, which it should be formed into the required shape. Cold forming is decided to be the best process for shaping the pins. The other option was hot forming, which could not meet the intended objectives since heat treatment reduces the yield stress of low alloy steel. Due to very small size of the pins, the group decided not to use any special devices to cut and form the pins. Skilled workeres could implement these processes by hand.

3.2.2. Electromagnet
Electromagnets consist of two parts as mentioned earlier in design section. The winding would be purchased from the market nevertheless the core could be machined from the low alloy steel bars. Afterwards, the copper coil should be winded onto the core.

3.2.3. Printed circuit board (PCB) and electrical parts

PCBs can be ordered by having the negatives, Altium Designer circuit drawing or Proteus model for the circuit. It was not felt necessary to manufacture the printed circuit board since it can be ordered easily and with low cost. Having the PCB and bought-in electronics, an electronics technician can solder the intended circuit.

3.3. Quality control

Quality control is an ultimately important section in which the unexpected failures are prevented. It has been decided to perform quality control in two sections after manufacturing: preassembly quality control and post-assembly quality control.

3.3.1. Pre-assembly quality control

It is recommended that the electronic parts should be checked after the soldering since the circuit has a rather high potential to fail as it discussed in FMEA section. It is also recommended to select and analyze 10 out of 1000 pins randomly to detect any unexpected failure.

3.3.2. Post-assembly quality control

Post-assembly quality control should be performed on each device, as the device should be able to show a predefined braille correctly. This allows the detection of any deficiencies or malfunctions in the device.

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3.4. Production line design

Production line design is one of the crucial elements in manufacturing a device. In this procedure the placement of machines, the hierarchy of processes, order of assembly and location of inventories was adjusted. As it can be seen from figure 21, The bought-in items, including copper wires, screws, polystyrene sheets, casings, low alloy steel rods and electronics, would be stored in inventory in stage one. During stage 2 the pins would be formed and moved to stage 5. In stage four the electromagnets would be wound since it is a predecessor for assembling the cells, which would be done in stage 5. In stage 3, the circuit will be soldered and then quality controlled. Phase 6 is the total assembling stage in which all the sub-assemblies and parts would be put together. Finally, in last step the product would be put into an appropriate package and sent to inventory in stage 8. After all, the product can be transferred to retailers or any customer.

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Figure 21: Production line design, Numbers indicate the sequence of production

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4. Business Plan
''Business planning is the process of setting goals, explaining objectives, and then mapping out a plan on how the company's management team will achieve these goals and objectives'' [10]. In this comprehensive business plan, the aim of establishing company, future guide of our company and also all the required resources will be discussed.

4.1. Market Analysis

Collecting the required information from the customers in order to plan the market needs, two methods were discussed for required objectives: Information on the website Interviewing with blind people According to the results obtained from the above methods, age range plays vital role in functionality of the product. The people who have born blind or have lost their sights in childhood are considered to be target customers. According to the information, in the UKs market, our main customers are those who are in the age range of 7 to 48 years, which are approximately 20000 people in England, and more than 23000 in the United Kingdom. An interview has been conducted with Mr. Patrick Adam, the assistive technology officer of disability department of the University of Birmingham, regarding to get essential information about the analyses done by the UKs blind communities. During this interview, the group perceived that blind people in England prefer to use voice recognition equipped devices instead of Braille devices. Nevertheless, the blind and visually impaired people in Germany and Scotland prefer to use Braille as they learn how to read Braille since childhood.

4.2. Production Strategy

Localization of manufacturing is the most significant decision for a company. After several discussions in business plan sub-group it has been decided to order all the parts to another company. However, the assembly would be done in our company in order to obtain satisfying quality of assembly and packaging. Nowadays, China is known as one of the leader countries in manufacturing with reasonable cost. For this reason the group contacted with several Chinese manufacturing companies for manufacturing the parts. Finally, Wohenchun mechanical manufacturing company was agreed to manufacture the parts by cost of 1042RMB ( 84 GBP) per unit including shipment. The agreement letter is presented in appendix 6.

4.3. Financial projection

4.3.1. Capital cost
The capital cost for starting a batch type production line considering assembly items, computers and miscellaneous items was approximated 50000 GBP.

4.3.2. Human resource plan

One of the keys to success in business is choosing proper roles in company and number of stuffs as it has a direct influence on variable cost. Based on the research, the following professions are needed in both production phase as well as management phase. Project manager Business manager Assemblers (both mechanical and electrical)

In choosing the proper salary for staff working in the company, observation of the minimum wage must be taken into consideration. The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is a minimum amount per hour that most workers in the UK are entitled to be paid.[12] The group decided to allocate 6.3 GBP per hour for labors, which is 5.8% more than minimum wage convention (5.93 GBP per hour).

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4.3.3. Fixed costs

Fixed cost is defined as the cost that is independent of production unit. The fixed costs involving the manufacturing are summarized as following: Building cost: In this stage the group allocated a suitable property for assembly procedure, main office and inventory. Obviously, buying a property will not be affordable without a good background capital. Logically, renting is more suitable choice according to income and profit and the number of products. [11] The rent for a 7000-square-meter property is approximately 17000 GBP per annum. Furthermore, the utility costs are included in the total rent. Maintenance costs: The group expected that there might be several maintenance expenditures. These expenditures have been approximated to be 7000 GBP per annum. Insurance and miscellaneous costs: Insurance and other costs involving the production of the Embraille were approximated to be 10000 GBP per annum.

4.3.4. Variable costs

Variable costs are the costs that are absolutely dependent to the number of production. Variable cost for a unit is the summation of labor salary, assembly costs and manufacturing cost for production of one device. As it mentioned in section 4.2. the manufacturing and shipping cost for one product is 84 GBP. Furthermore, the salary for staff is presented in table 9.
Table 9: Staff salary per annum

Obviously by altering the production rate the salaries for each staff will change. The considered value is for production of 4000 units per annum. Therefore, for unit product the labor salary will be 67.86 GBP. Assembly instruments (e.g. packaging costs) are also considered in variable costs. This approximated 5 GBP for a unit product.

4.3.5. Shipment costs

Different choices for shipment of products will be determine mostly by location of destination. The production line is in UK (Birmingham) and Embraille will sent to Germany (Berlin) and Scotland (Glasgow), the cheapest alternative shipment to Germany and Scotland are shown in table 10:
Table 10: Shipment costs to Berlin and Glasgow

Destination Type of shipment Price

Berlin (Germany) Sea freight 1500

Glasgow (Scotland) Road freight 500-700

Due to the speed of delivery, airfreight is the most expensive way to ship products. Since, there is no time limit for shipment schedule, it has been decided to use sea and road freight instead.

4.3.6. Tax The rules and regulation of paying tax in United Kingdom is presented in table 11. 36

Table 11: Tax ratings per annum, according to the total benefit of one financial year [13]
Rate 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Starting rate for savings: 10%* 0-2,440 0-2,440 0- 2,560 Basic rate: 20% 0-37,400 0-37,400 0- 35,000 Higher rate: 40% Over 37,400 37,401-150,000 35,001-150,000 Additional rate: 50% Not applicable Over 150,000 Over 150,000

4.4. Financial analysis

In this section the financing is discussed briefly, then break-even analysis has been conducted to approve the profitability of intended production rate. Afterwards, the benefit margin and product maturity is determined.

4.4.1. Financing
The detailed values of manufacturing and financing of Embraille is shown in tables 12 and 13. In this table all subjects with significant effect on economics and benefits of company is discussed. Moreover, Determination of the total subjected price, all incomes and outgoing financial cash and finally, total benefit of Embraille is presented. A summery of analysis for calculation of each value in tables 12 and 13, is abstracted as following: The unit production in first and second year will be 1250 and 2500 units. Furthermore, for third and fourth year the production rate will be 3000 and 2250 units respectively. After determining the total cost of each unit of Embraille and add up profit percentage to total cost, the optimum price of Embraille in market was calculated to be 240 GBP. The loan was calculated in order to supply the initial fixed and variable costs for first year. The loan return will be in period of four years with rate of approximately 7.5%.

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Table 12: Cash flow analysis for 4-year duration

Table 13: Financial analysis for 4-years duration

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4.4.2. Break-even analysis

In this section, the minimum production in first six month is determined to ensure that any failures will not occur in market. Considering to income from sales in each month, the result is shown in figure 22. The detailed data is presented in appendix 7.

Figure 22:Break-even analysis, the values are in pounds [14]

The result shows that the minimum production would be 248 in first six month. However, the group considered the production rate of 500 units in first six months period.

4.4.3. Benefit margin

Benefit margin is the time, in which, capital cost will be equal to benefit. In this period of time company will start to gain solid-profit from market. The benefit margin is illustrated in figure 23.

450000 400000 350000 300000 8th month 250000 200000 150000 100000 50000 0 2 -50000 0 -100000

Cumulaeve cash ow

10

Time (six months)

Figure 23: Benefit margin, cumulative cash flow versus time

After approximately 8 months company can start to enhance its manufacturing ability and also start to decide other future plan and developments of Embraille.

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4.4.4. Maturity
As it shown in figure 24, the company will reach to market maturity after second year. In this period of time, company will start to produce the product with several improvements to avoid any market failure and protect maturity of product in market. The possible developments of Embraille are listed in the section 4.5.3.

1800 1600 Number of sales 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Time (six months)
Figure 24: Market maturity, Number of sales versus time

4.5. Sales management

4.5.1. Advertisement
Choosing proper methods of advertising is the groups main consideration in order to create a better image of the product. Due to disability of the blind people, the group decided to study on blind communities rather than individuals. Embraille can be advertised through three main methods; Braille magazines, Braille brochures and donation of devices to the relevant institutes. RNIB (Royal national institute of blind people), which is one of the well-known institutes in the UK, could be the first step in introducing the device by which advertising in their Braille magazines can cover wide range of blind people in the United Kingdom. Donating some of first products to relevant institutes can help the blind and visually impaired people to feel the benefit of the device. Publishing some Braille print of advertisement through their society can be one of the inexpensive methods of advertising.

4.5.2. Customer service and support

''Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business'' [15] The company can obtain considerable number of customers by offering affordable price. However, it cannot guarantee the business life while offering excellent customer service. Customer service should be satisfactory in order gain the trust of the customers. Considering these facts, there are three steps, which have studied to plan a good customer service: Minimum warranty period in EU countries which is basically two years Failure criteria of our product (electrical circuit failure with FMEA analysis) Selection of human resource and equipment (electrical tests) Based on these items, our product will be guaranteed for minimum of two years.

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4.5.3. Product development

For better marketing and achieving a reasonable sale in future years, there are some upcoming goals and strategies. The product itself cannot have prosperity for a long time and the sales would decrease after maturity of product. Therefore, some developments should be implemented after this period of time in order to enhance the product sale. The intended improvements are as follows: SIM card: Embraille can be developed in a way to accept SIM cards to be a mobile phone as well as being braille display. Tactile cells: By implementing this technology the blind person will be able to dial numbers. Design improvement: The new design could be much thinner to enhance the portability of the device. Voice recognition technology

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5. Life cycle assessment (LCA)

5.1. Introduction
Being environmentally friendly and producing greener product is a slogan for our company. Life cycle assessment (LCA), which is a cradle to grave approach, has been done to determine the products impacts on the environment. Selecting materials, choosing processes, transportations, their usages during products life till recycling have been considered as stages of LCA for designing our product. Using Eco Audit tool in CES Edupack 2010 the group managed to implement LCA. Table 14 indicates the summary of all these stages in terms of energy usage and CO2 footprint during 3 years.
Table 14: Contribution of each phase of LCA in energy and CO2, CES Edupack

5.2. Materials
All used materials are recyclable and this factor can reduce the CO2 footprint and amount of used energy during product life. Tables 15 and 16 represent the total energy and CO2 footprint of material during its lifetime respectively.
Table 15: Energy usage for each component in terms of material, CES Edupack

Table 16: CO2 footprint for each component in terms of material, CES Edupack

5.3. Manufacturing
Three factors have been considered for selecting the proper process for each material, to find the processes that can be done on the material, to keep the cost as low as possible and to find the

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process that has fewer impacts on environment. Table 17 and 18 illustrates the energy and CO2 footprint regarding the process for each component.
Table 17: Energy usage for each component in terms of processes, CES Edupack

Table 18: CO2 footprint for each component in terms of process, CES Edupack

5.4. Transportation
The products parts will be manufactured in china and send to England for assembling. As Germany is one of our markets it will transport from England to Germany after assembling. Sea freight is chosen because of low cost and having low environmental impact. Table 19 and 20 demonstrate energy usage and CO2 footprint of our product in transportations.
Table 19: Energy usage table for transportation, CES Edupack

Table 20: CO2 footprint for transportation phase, CES Edupack

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5.5. Usage
By developing the design as explained in Final design section the usage of electricity has been reduced in our device. It is assumed that the product usage is 360 days in each year and 4 hours in each day over three years. Therefore, it will be used about 4300 hours for normal usage in three years. Table 21 indicates the static mode data for product usage and we neglect the product usage in mobility mode, i.e. when the product is used in transportation. Table 22 and 23 show the amount of energy and Co2 footprint for the product usage. It can be observed that the grate portion of these values by considering all factors; is related to the usage of the product.
Table 21: Static mode data for product usage, CES Edupack

Table 22: Energy consumption table in usage phase, CES Edupack

Table 23: CO2 footprint of usage phase, CES Edupack

5.6. End of life (recycling)

All materials are not renewable but they can be recycled. Therefore, recycling the product plays an important role in decreasing the environmental impacts. Table 24 and 25 indicate the amount of energy consumption and CO2 footprint regarding the recycling. These values are negative which represents that they have a positive influence on environment. Furthermore, one of the specifications of the Embraille is ease of assembling and disassembling which can help the recycling process.

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Table 24: Energy consumption in recycling phase, CES Edupack

Table 25: CO2 footprint in recycling phase, CES Edupack

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6. Hazard study
6.1. Material hazard data
Table 26: typical usage and description of involved material (CES Edupack)

Material Copper (UNS C10100) (Windings)

Description
visual attraction, ductile, can be worked to complex shapes, high thermal and electrical conductivities, resists corrosion

Typical usage
electrical wiring, electrical conductors, cables, contact wires

Low alloy steel (AISI 3140) (Pins)

perfect corrosion resistance, good hardenability, difficult to weld, high strength

Pins, Springs

ABS plastic (Cell, top & bottom of the casing)

UV resistance, can be damaged by petroleum-based machining oils, good chemical and temperature resistance, adding glass fiber the rigidity increases up, without a protective coating sunlight causes yellowing and loss of strength easy molded polymer, mechanical properties will be improved by mixing with polybutadiene, brittle and easily cracks Alloys of iron with chromium, nickel and some other elements, high strength and corrosion resistance, ease of fabrication, difficult to bend, draw and cut, available in different shapes, ductile for the lowest temperatures

Casing, cell casing, weather seals, pipe fittings

Polystyrene (PS)

Insulation, electronic housings, audio cassette cases

Stainless steel (Screws)

Around the casing and junctions

Cast magnesium alloy AM50 (Around the external casing)

light, low density, good mechanical damping, better thermal conductivity than steel, Mobile phone casing, vibration corrodes badly in salty water damping and shielding of and acids, easy to machine, machining tools, camera bodies spot and seam welds are possible only in low stress applications

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Table 27: properties of materials involved

E = 10^

6.2. Environmental aspects

Beforehand, while row materials are gathered in the company to enter into the production line, they might have some impacts on both human and environment. Some materials such as ABS plastic can be harmful for human because of high toxicity, which can be absorbed by human inhalation directly through the skin. But after production they become solidified and can be used in wide range of devices. Basically, the whole device has no environmental damage. The idea of the design has driven from mobile phone (size, shape, portability), however, even in the mobile phones electrical signals have many negative effects on human brain and environment, while our device has no signal transmission through ambient. We have chosen polystyrene for the insulation mainly because the polystyrene has high insulating degree (Resistivity of 110!" !. !"), which does not biodegrade for several years. [16]

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7. Legal and ethical issues

7.1. Ethical issues
It has been tried to observe ethical issues in: The design: The design has been performed in a way to be comfortable for the blind users. The aim of designing this product was to help blind people to read the any text documents. The manufacturing processes: Due to the fact that manufacturers confront limited resources as a problem, it was tried to select the manufacturing processes in a way that the least impact would occur on environment. The recyclability of the materials: The chosen materials are recyclable, therefore remained resources will be saved. Energy use: The energy usage has been considered whilst material selection, manufacturing processes, transportation and usage phase. The proof of mentioned considerations is provided in life cycle assessment and material selection sections.

7.2. Legal issues

Since users of this product are the blind and visually impaired people, there are several legal issues that should be considered while producing the product: Marburg medium spacing convention: recommended in European commission guidance as suitable for use for medical product labeling. (BSI 2007) Braille dot height: In order to ensure that the braille reader could sense the dots properly, the minimum dot height shall be as follows: (BSI 2007) i. For embossed materials shall be no less than 0.12mm ii. For other braille production methods shall be no less than 0.20mm Product identification: the approved braille text on the labeling shall include the information required in the country in which the product is to be supplied. (BSI 2007) Packaging: The package leaflet is required to be in a suitable format or formats for blind and partially sighted people on request by their representative organizations. (BSI 2007) A packaging sample is designed and presented in appendix 9. In-process controls: braille quality and content should be checked in accordance with the technical agreement between Marketing Authorization Holder and the supplier. (BSI 2007) Comprehensive description of braille and its standards are explained within the design and business plan sections. Moreover, the group has tried to consider the mentioned standards for the satisfaction of the user.

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8. References
[1] http://www.who.int/blindness/en [Accessed 24/3/2011] [2] Congdon N, O'colmain B, Klaver CC, Causes and prelevence of visual imapiment among adults in the US, Archives of ophthalmology, 2004 [3] http://www.robotforstudents.com/1.html [Accessed 10/12/2010] [4] http://www.tiresias.org/research/reports/braille_cell.htm [Accessed 12/11/2010] [5] http://www.faulhaber.com [6] http://exed.wisc.edu/sixsigma/resources/QFD.xls [Accessed 12/2/2011] th [7] Budynas-Nisbett, Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design, 8 edition, McGraw-Hill, ISBN: 0390764876 [8] Pruittikorn Smithmaitrie, Analysis and design of piezoelectric braille display, Department of mechanical engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. [9] http://www.meldert.se [10] http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-93974200.html [11] http://www.proprt.co.uk/search/results?location=birmingham&propdetails=&select_property_type=3&stype=either [12] http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/TheNationalMinimumWage/DG_10027201 [Accessed13/03/2011] [13] http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ct/getting-started/intro.htm [14] http://www.calculatorplus.com/business/ [15] http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/customerservice/a/custservrules.htm [16] http://www.enotes.com/topic/Polystyrene#Environmental_impact [Accessed 10/02/2011]

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Appendices
Appendix 1: Product Design Specifications (PDS)
A1.1. Scope
Process time Weight Supporting both grade one and grade two braille Portability Time to assemble and disassemble Durability

These specifications are decided to be the design requirements of the device that used by a blind person.

A1.2. Role of equipment or materials

A blind user will operate the proposed text to braille convertor device. Therefore, the ease of use and customer comfort will play an important role.

A1.3. Definitions A1.3.1. Terminology

Braille: a system of writing for the blind that uses characters made up of raised dots. [1]

A1.3.2. Measuring systems and standards

All drawings will conform to BS8888 and will be drawn in third angle projection. Braille standards should be used.

A1.4. Relevant authorities to be consulted

Royal National Institute for Blind people, RNIB, branch in Birmingham. Disability department of the University of Birmingham.

A1.5. Conditions
The device should be plugged to computer via USB in order to translate the input text into braille.

A1.6. Characteristics A1.6.1. Design

Process time of no more than 0.8 seconds for a word. It should have simple operation systems. Time for assembling and disassembling the device should not be more than 20 minutes.

A1.6.2. Properties
Overall dimensions of the device should not exceed 20010050. Overall weight of the device should not exceed 1 kg. The device should not have sharp projection since it might cause injury for blind people.

A1.6.3. Materials
Material should be selected considering the total weight and manufacturability of each part.

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The properties of selected materials should be in a way that the final device could withstand the cyclic stresses and unexpected impacts.

A1.6.4. Manufacturing process requirements

One Braille cell will be built as a prototype to demonstrate the idea. Batch type production will be used to manufacture the device.

A1.6.5. Aesthetics
Although the customers are the blind and visually impaired people, appearance of the device should be an important issue. The texture of the external casing should be in a way that the blind enjoys to work with it.

A1.7. Product life

Period of useful life: The product should last for minimum of one year without having maintained. Total life: The total life of the product considering the maintenance for every other year should not be less than 3 years.

A1.8. Reliability
The device has to be guaranteed for two years. The device should be able to operate for stated 3 years.

A1.9. Packaging
The packaging should conform the ISO standards. It should be designed in a way that the customers would have no problems opening it.

A1.10. Market
To be analyzed

A1.11. Patents
To be analyzed

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Appendix 2: Drawings

52

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56

57

58

59

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Appendix 3: Project management and minutes of meeting

First step after determining chairman and secretary is setting the main group policies and subgroups. For achieving the best result, the group set different tasks to each subgroup. Chairman divided fairly the project to three divisions. Moreover, a management team was organized to manage the project.

Embraille project

Design group
Nasim Mahmoodi Hatef Khadivinassab Aria Kalani Amir maherinia Ali nouri roozbahany

Business plan interpreter

Hamideh Keshavarz Parsa Sagha Amir Talebian Moghadam

Report team
Maryam Heidari Hatef Khadivinassab Amir Maherinia

Figure 25: Subgroups chart of the group

Chairman
Hatef Khadivinassab

Coordinator
Nasim Mahmoodi

Secretary
Maryam Heidari

Treasurer
Aria Kalani

Figure 26: Management group

In addition to each sub-groups endeavour, managing and supervising the whole team caused in the reasonable final outcome. The management of the project was in a way that each person has to put same effort on this project. In these pages the summary of minutes of meetings is presented to illuminate the management of the project.

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The complete form of the minutes of meetings is not presented in the report as a result of word count limit. However, a summarized format of minutes is available in A.2.1. and A.2.2. for formal and informal meetings respectively. Moreover, two samples of the minutes has been demonstrated in the section A2.3.

A2.1. Formal meetings

Formal meetings were based on overseeing the overall improvements. The minutes of formal meetings were summarized as below. Friday 15 Oct 2010 (formal meeting) The procedure of whole idea was described by the supervisor, decide an item to work on. Thursday 21 Oct 2010 (formal meeting) Group supposed to identify the tasks and allocate each member with a task and finally come up with one project. Wednesday 03 Nov 2010 (formal meeting) Discussed on the aims of products and developed the concept design. Tuesday 16 Nov 2010 (formal meeting) Chose one of the three rough designs and about to grow it up. Monday 29 Nov 2010 (formal meeting) Business plans achieved first upshots. Designs got the final procedure. Monday 31 Jan 2011 (formal meeting) Discussed on the final price and group was asked to complete the calculations. Thursday 17 Feb 2011 (formal meeting) Model demonstrated and stress analysis nearly complete. Monday 28 Feb 2011 (formal meeting) Business plan has contacted companies to interpret the cost of each productions stage and stress analysis was completely done by the design group. Monday 14 Mar 2011 (formal meeting) The group was asked to correct the report. Monday 21 march 2011 (formal meeting) Report corrected strictly and detail problems were solved.

A2.2. Informal meetings

Informal meetings took place according to the policies set in the formal meetings. Informal meetings were commenced for development of the project. During these meetings the problems were discussed and tasks were determined and allocated to each person. The summarized minutes are presented below. Tuesday 19 Oct 2010 (informal meeting) New ideas were presented. Group members were asked to develop their ideas. Thursday 21 Oct 2010 (informal meeting) Four ideas selected among all members ideas. Monday 08 Nov 2010 (informal meeting) The final idea selected and each member was asked to state their skills, hence, chairman positioned each of group members in sub-groups. Monday 09 Nov 2010 (informal meeting)

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Design specifications were outlined. The problems illustrated and argued. Friday 15 Nov 2010 (informal meeting) New ideas rough design was prepared and sketched. Concept designs were discussed. Wednesday 19 Jan 2011 (informal meeting) Design group divided into two subgroups for running two different solutions for the idea. Friday 28 Jan 2011 (informal meeting) Two main key found out and group discussed on the benefits and problem may design faced with. Wednesday 11 Feb 2011 (informal meeting) Material selection discussed and the procedure was really in need of the price of the device and finding the proper magnet thus tasks were divided and allocated to the members in this regard. Friday 04 Mar 2011 (informal meeting) Report development was magnificent. Introduction, concept design, patent search, material selection and FEA were all sat down.

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A2.3. Examples of the minutes of meetings

Design Group No. 8 Minutes of the Formal Design Group Meeting No.8 held at 10 a.m. On Monday 28 Feb 2011 in room F19, School of Mechanical Engineering Members list: (Those denoted by (p) were present in the meeting) Hatef Khadivinassab Nasim Mahmoudi Maryam Heidari Aria Kalani Amir Maherinia (p) (Chairperson) (p) (Coordinator) (p) (Secretary) (p) (p) Hamideh Keshavarz Ali Noori Parsa Saghafi (p) (p) (p)

Amir Talebian Moghadam(p)

1. Apologies received for Absence 2. Review of minutes of the last meeting Is good to have complete analysis and good report to achieve a good mark. 3. Review and discuss new ideas-Agree final points a. Not to have sketches without dimensions. b. A good model could be helpful. c. Nice box can help others to give them a good impression. d. To know the price for selling it to people. e. Stress calculation is done. f. More analysisbetter mark. For Next week: -Total cost -Email the Chinese company to find new material and the costs for it. -Think about the way of advertising -Having less than one month for report submission. -Commenting on the report before its due date. It could be helpful. -Simple English, bullet point, diagram, table. 4. Date and Venue of Next Meeting Monday 14 March 2011 in room F19 , formal meeting with Pro. Hukins

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Design Group No. 8 Minutes of the Informal Design Group Meeting No.3 held at 12 p.m. on Monday 08 Nov 2010 Design centre , School of Mechanical Engineering Members list: (Those denoted by (p) were present in the meeting) Hatef Khadivinassab Nasim Mahmoudi Maryam Heidari Aria Kalani Amir Maherinia (p) (Chairperson) (p) (Coordiantor) (p) (Secretary) (p) (p) Hamideh Keshavarz Ali Noori Parsa Saghafi (p) (p) (p)

Amir Talebian Moghadam(p)

1. Apologies received for Absence 2. Review of minutes of the last meeting 3. Review and discuss new ideas-Agree final points We did demonstrate what should everyone do in the project. We specified the skills and did match the skills with the tasks. At the end the details were printed out and were matched considering each members skill. 4.Agree decisions on product We decided (pdf Braille convertor) to be our final project. Tasks due Friday for each member: Hatef,Parsa,Hamideh(leader ),Amir T Business Plan (VOC and what is being used instead of this device nowadays? and what is the book that is being used? ) Hatef,Nasim(leader),Parsa,Ali,Amir M,AriaDesign (to study more about Braille and Braille specifications) 6.Date and Venue of Next Meeting Friday 05 Nov 2010 in design centre informal meeting -

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A2.4. Project Gantt chart

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Appendix 4: FEA results

A4.1. Large pin

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A4.2. Small pin

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Appendix 5: Questionnaire

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Appendix 6: Letter from Wohenchun Mechanical Manufacturing Co.

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Appendix 7: Breakeven analysis data

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Appendix 8: Magnet force calculation

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Appendix 9: Packaging sample

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