'A fantastic resource': Local robotics club uses 3D printing to boost access to Braille blocks

Local teens help promote Braille Teens from a local robotics group are helping kids in Alberta and the Northwest Territories learn Braille.

A group of Sherwood Park teens is helping increase Braille literacy in Alberta.

Saturday, the Cyber Eagles Robotics team presented 18 sets of 3D printed Braille blocks to the Alberta Society for the Visually Impaired (ASVI) and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).

Braille blocks are an educational tool for people who want to learn braille. Each one contains an English letter or number and its Braille equivalent.

The blocks are then lined up and secured by a bracket so they can be read across.

"These Braille learning blocks [are] designed for smaller children to learn braille, which is why they're so big," said Rune Katchur, of the Cyber Eagles.

"I love them so much," said eight-year-old Alexandra Halloran, who received a set of the blocks on Saturday.

While Alexandra has access to a Braille learning aid at school, her father Kieran Halloran said having her own customized set is amazing.

"Having it at home and having her play with it and interact with it, I think just really increases the learning and she's just overjoyed," he said. "This is wonderful."

'A FANTASTIC RESOURCE'

Katchur, who is experienced with 3D printing, said creating the blocks was straightforward and only took around 20 minutes.

"Then we also have some Braille boards with the smaller letters for when they think they're ready to challenge themselves with smaller writing," he added.

The sets will be distributed across Alberta, with some going to the Northwest Territories.

"These are going to be a fantastic resource that we can use in talking about Braille and Braille literacy in the community," said Carl Busch from CNIB. "So it's a really amazing tool for us."

Busch said CNIB previously only had two sets of Braille blocks in all of Alberta, which lacked the tactile engraving of the english letter.

"So to be able to get a whole stack of these is really terrific, because our public education efforts are growing," he added.

The blocks were made in partnership with the Edmonton Police Service, which CNIB also partners with for the annual Beeping Easter Egg Hunt for visually impaired and blind people.

"The support of a community is really important to the work we do," Busch said. "Awareness and acceptance by our neighbors and our community around us makes all the difference."