IPN Develops Scanner that Translates Texts into Braille

• Students and faculty from UPIIZ created this device to ensure that people with visual disabilities have equal opportunities to access information, education, and culture, contributing to the fulfillment of Commitment 34 of the 100 announced by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.

• The device enables the printing of personal documents and texts on civil protection, health, and educational topics in Braille, a writing system that utilizes raised dots and spaces in cells.

To support the fulfillment of Commitment 34 of the 100 announced by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, students and professors from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN) developed the first copier-scanner capable of printing documents in Braille. This high-impact technological innovation promotes inclusion by enabling people with visual disabilities to gain greater access to information, education, and culture.

Students Azalia Guadalupe García Cruz, Abril Natalia Sánchez Luevano, and Marlon Chávez Almaraz, advised by professors Umanel Azazael Hernández González, Sergio Domínguez Sánchez, and Flabio Darío Mirelez Delgado from the Mechatronics Engineering program at the Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria de Ingeniería Campus Zacatecas (UPIIZ), designed and developed this device as part of the project “Design and Construction of a Prototype Braille Document Scanner-Copier.”

The initiative originated in response to the directive of Secretary of Public Education Mario Delgado Carrillo to promote science and technology in university classrooms nationwide.

The students identified the challenge of replacing worn Braille books at the “Roberto Cabral del Hoyo” Library in Zacatecas. After confirming that no such copier-scanner existed on the market—except for highly specialized equipment used by large publishers—they decided to design and build their own prototype.

The device operates like any commercial copier-scanner but integrates a system that digitizes the document, processes the image, and converts it into Braille dot configurations. Once completed, the file can be saved in digital format or printed on special paper for tactile reading and writing. The machine also allows direct copying from Braille to Braille.

Thanks to this innovation, people with visual disabilities will be able to print personal documents and authorized texts on topics such as civil protection, health, and education in Braille.

IPN students will soon begin the patent process for the prototype, aiming to make it available to society either through the creation of a startup or via a technology transfer model.

The students emphasized that, to honor IPN’s motto, “La Técnica al Servicio de la Patria” it is necessary to step outside the comfort zone and create solutions that respond to social needs, particularly those of vulnerable sectors.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 2.2 billion people worldwide live with some form of visual disability. In Mexico, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reports that more than 2.6 million people live with this condition, making it the second leading cause of disability in the country.

For more information, visit www.ipn.mx