# Braigo

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Braille embosser using a Lego Mindstorms EV3 kit

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**Braigo** (**Brai**-lle +Le-**go**) is a [Braille](/source/Braille) printer design. Braigo version 1.0 uses a [Lego](/source/Lego) [Mindstorms EV3 kit](/source/Lego_Mindstorms_EV3),[1] which includes a microprocessor with assorted components such as [electric motors](/source/Electric_motor), [sensors](/source/Sensor) and [actuators](/source/Actuator). Braigo v1.0 was designed by 13-year-old Shubham Banerjee in January 2014, as an entry in 7th grade school science fair project.[2] The model was based on the PLOTT3R, a bonus model released with the EV3 kit and originally designed by Ralph Hempel. The cost was said to be about US$350[3] or 250 [Euros](/source/Euro) for the Lego Mindstorms EV3 kit and some extra commonly used hardware whereas a conventional Braille printer retails starting from about $1,900.[4][5]

In August 2014, a new company called Braigo Labs Inc. was formed[6] with an office in [Palo Alto, California](/source/Palo_Alto%2C_California). Since Shubham Banerjee was a minor, his mother Malini is listed as the President of the company and the law firm Inventus Law acting as advisor.

On September 9, 2014, at the [Intel](/source/Intel) Developers Forum (IDF 2014), Banerjee demonstrated 'Braigo v2.0'. As of at least February 2018 the product has still not been released and there have been no official announcements since 2018.[7]

## The inventor

Inventor Shubham Banerjee with Braigo v1.0

Shubham Banerjee was born in [Hasselt](/source/Hasselt), Belgium.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] The family moved to [San Jose, California](/source/San_Jose%2C_California), when he was four years old.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Later he moved to [Santa Clara, California](/source/Santa_Clara%2C_California), and completed his elementary schooling at Don Callejon School.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] He joined Magnolia Science Academy in Santa Clara in middle school for a couple of months, before moving to Champion School in San Jose for middle school.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] He lives in Santa Clara, California, with his parents and Older sister.[8]

## Braigo v1.0

Braigo - Braille Printer with Lego Mindstorms EV3

Braigo Braille Print Head

**Braigo v1.0 made Open Source**

As announced in a [CNN](/source/CNN)[2] and other interviews, Banerjee has decided to give away the design and software for free. He said on an [NBC](/source/NBC) program "I think I'm doing something that could actually help people".[9] He has uploaded building instruction on his [YouTube](/source/YouTube) channel,[10] and also uploaded the software project file .ev3 on the [Lego](/source/Lego)[Mindstorms EV3](/source/Mindstorms_EV3) community page.[11] He said that "I think Braigo making the news will rejuvenate others and the beneficiary will be the visually impaired individuals. All good for humankind."[12] Detailed download and build information is available on-line[13] and detailed directions on how to build Braigo were published in [Makezine](/source/Makezine).[14]

## Braigo v2.0

Banerjee on stage with Mike Bell, Intel Corporate VP & GM - New Devices Group, at the keynote in IDF14 showing Braigo v2.0

On September 9, 2014, at the [Intel Developer Forum](/source/Intel_Developer_Forum) (IDF 2014) Mega Session: *The Next Revolution in Computing: Edison, Wearables, and New Devices* with Intel VP and GM, Mike Bell, Banerjee demonstrated Braigo 2.0. Braigo 2.0 promises to be the world's first, relatively inexpensive, silent, IOT enabled, light weight, consumer oriented, braille printer or embosser. Braigo 2.0 reportedly contains new patent pending technology in addition to [Intel](/source/Intel)'s [Edison Chip](/source/Intel_Edison) paired with a development board.[15]

After Braigo v1.0, the natural progression for Banerjee, after feedback from the visually impaired community, was to make a real consumer version that could eventually be bought off-the-shelf.

Banerjee with Braigo v2.0 at IDF14

## Transcoding of documents to braille on-chip

At [Campus Party](/source/Campus_Party) Keynote in São Paulo, Brazil, in February 2015.[16] Shubham Banerjee gave a demonstration of a new method of transcoding documents to braille without any software installation on the computer. The technology involves uploading any document from a computer into the memory of the [Intel](/source/Intel)'s Edison chip that's the brain of the Braigo Braille printer.[17] The idea behind this new method is to reduce the cost of ownership of the Braigo printer without having to buy any transcribing software for braille.

## Awards/Recognitions

Year What From 2015 2015 Next Generation of STEM Leaders US News[18][19] 2015 2015 Invention Award Popular Science[20] 2015 20 under 20 Veckans Affärer[21] 2015 40 under 40 Silicon Valley Business Journal[22] 2014 Nominet Trust 100 Winner Nominet Trust[23] 2014 Technology Innovation of the Year Trusted Reviews Time Inc. UK[24] 2014 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child[25] UNICEF publication (ISBN 978-92-806-4780-8) "Reimagine the Future: Innovation for every child"[26] 2014 Certificate of Recognition[27] California State Assembly Member Bob Wieckowski 2014 Best of America Reader's Digest[28] 2014 Winner of 2014 Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize[27] Synopsys Outreach Foundation, Inc. 2014 Lego Build 4 Good Challenge (Inspired by Braigo) - Seattle[29] Lego 2014 2014 Youth Innovator Award[30] OPEN Silicon Valley 2014 NBC & AACI APA Heritage Month Honoree 2014[31] NBC & AACI 2014 Special Congressional Recognition Mike Honda 2014 Maker Faire Editor's Choice Ribbon Maker Faire 2014 White House Maker Faire 2014[32] White House 2014 The Queen Latifah Show & Lego Trophy The Queen Latifah Show 2014 Honorable Mention The Tech Awards

## Creation of Braigo Labs Inc.

In August 2014, Braigo Labs Inc. was formed with Banerjee announcing that he is working on his next version of the Braille Printer and named it as Braigo v2.0. Since he is a minor, his mother Malini Banerjee is named as the President of the company with him listed as Founder.[33] Braigo and BraigoLabs are both now registered trademarks of Braigo Labs Inc.[34] The offices of the company is located in [Palo Alto](/source/Palo_Alto), [California](/source/California).

### Intel Capital Investment

Intel was so impressed with Banerjee's efforts that Mike Bell, Intel's VP and GM of New Products Group announced at Intel Developer Forum (IDF 2014) that Intel will invest in Braigo Labs Inc. to help bring the printer to market.[35] In Intel Capital Global Summit 2014, it was announced that they have closed the seed investment round for Braigo Labs Inc. founded by [Shubham Banerjee](/source/Shubham_Banerjee),[36][37][38]

### Youngest entrepreneur to receive Venture Capital funding

On November 4, 2014, at the Intel Capital Global Summit, [Intel Capital](/source/Intel_Capital) announced that they have funded Braigo Labs Inc. the startup founded by Shubham Banerjee. [CBS News](/source/CBS_News)' John Blackstone reports, "the eighth grader is already a star; the youngest person ever to get venture capital investment for a start-up", reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone

In an article in *[The Wall Street Journal](/source/The_Wall_Street_Journal)* titled "Intel Capital's Arvind Sodhani: Unique Companies 'Rarer and Rarer'" on November 4, 2014, journalist Deborah Gage asked the question "You've been at Intel Capital for a long time. How much longer are you going to keep doing this?", Arvid Sodhani answered "I'm having fun. We're having a successful year. The fun part is meeting people like Shubham Banerjee who are passionate about pursuing their dreams and feeling comfortable that this is a risky business. It's not just a risk for us, but the individuals doing this are taking a risk at a personal level. I like pinpointing the risk—it's rewarding to have a success down the road."[39] As reported by Johnny Dodd, reporter from [*People* magazine](/source/People_Magazine), "'We've funded young entrepreneurs, but no one this young – certainly not in middle school,' a spokesman for Intel Capital says. The venture-capital firm recently announced an investment deal with Banerjee's company, Braigo Labs, that one source estimates is worth several hundred thousand dollars."[40]

### Microsoft Relationship

Shubham Banerjee was invited by [Microsoft](/source/Microsoft) for their Student Tech Fair on May 13, 2015, in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) to display his work with Braigo. After the event Microsoft published[41] that Shubham is working with the [Windows](/source/Windows) team at Microsoft to integrate the Braigo with the [Windows 10](/source/Windows_10) for easy integration of the solution that he is developing. "Now Shubham is working to bring the Braigo 2.0 to market. He's started working with my colleagues on the Windows team to integrate Braigo drivers with Windows for easy deployment."

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Love, Dylan. ["Braille Printers Cost Thousands Of Dollars — This Kid Built One Out Of Lego For $350"](https://www.businessinsider.com/braille-printer-lego-mindstorms-2014-2). *Business Insider*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-auto1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-auto1_2-1) ["Boy genius makes braille printer from Lego - CNN Video"](https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2014/02/21/qmb-lego-braille-printer-shubham-banerjee-intv.cnn). 21 February 2014 – via www.cnn.com.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["LEGO MINDSTORMS® EV3 - 31313 | MINDSTORMS® | LEGO Shop"](https://shop.lego.com/en-US/product/LEGO-MINDSTORMS-EV3-31313). *shop.lego.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Google"](https://www.google.com/#q=cost+of+braille+printers&tbm=shop). *www.google.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Braigo"](https://www.facebook.com/BraigoPrinter/). *www.facebook.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Braigo Labs"](http://www.braigolabs.com). Braigo Labs. Retrieved 2019-07-18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Braigolabs"](https://twitter.com/braigolabs). *Twitter*. Retrieved 19 January 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["At school they called him Braigo boy"](http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/print-edition/2014/12/12/at-school-they-call-him-braigo-boy.html?page=all). *upstart.bizjournals.com*. December 12, 2014. Retrieved 2019-07-18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-auto_9-0)** Thomas, Garvin (28 February 2014). ["12-Year-Old Creates Braille Printer Out Of Legos"](http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Santa-Clara-12-Year-Old-Creates-Low-Cost-Braille-Printer-Out-Of-Lego-247716461.html). *NBC Bay Area*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Shubham. B."](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsX9GOwo54OT9BmcqFtNgnw?feature=watch) *YouTube*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Archived copy"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140317082450/http://www.us.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/community/profile?builder=sbanerjee2001). Archived from [the original](http://www.us.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/community/profile?builder=sbanerjee2001) on 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2014-03-17.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_archived_copy_as_title))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Peace Fund Radio @39:15 mins"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140317195133/http://latalkradio.com/archives/Peace-031214.mp3). Archived from [the original](http://latalkradio.com/archives/Peace-031214.mp3) on March 17, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Braigo - Braille Printer with Lego - How to build? Instructions available here"](https://sociotechnocrat.kinja.com/braigo-braille-printer-with-lego-how-to-build-inst-1546125354). *sociotechnocrat*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Braigo - A DIY Braille Printer with Lego | Make"](https://makezine.com/projects/braigo-a-diy-braille-printer-with-lego/). *Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers*. 12 June 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Kypreos, Evan (September 13, 2014). ["IDF 2014: The highlights of Intel's Annual Forum"](https://www.trustedreviews.com/opinion/idf-2014-the-highlights-of-intel-s-annual-forum-2921117). *Trusted Reviews*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Campuse.ro"](https://campuse.ro/events/campus-party-brasil-2015/talk/ShubhamBanerjee/). *campuse.ro*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["Teen invents method for transcoding text into Braille in printer's memory"](https://venturebeat.com/2015/02/04/teen-founder-invents-method-for-transcoding-text-into-braille-in-printers-memory/). February 4, 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["U.S. News Announces the Next Generation of STEM Leaders"](https://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/2015/05/13/us-news-announces-the-next-generation-of-stem-leaders).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** ["Middle School Student Founds Company, Builds Braille Printer"](https://www.usnews.com/news/stem-solutions/the-next-generation-of-stem/articles/2015/05/12/student-founds-company-builds-braille-printer?int=ae520a).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** ["A Braille Printer Born From LEGO"](https://www.popsci.com/braille-printer-born-lego/). *www.popsci.com*. 18 March 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["Upprördes över högt pris på skrivare - uppfann en egen"](http://www.va.se/nyheter/2015/03/24/shubham-banerjee/). *Veckans affärer*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["Shubam Banerjee lego based braille printer"](http://upstart.bizjournals.com/entrepreneurs/hot-shots/2015/01/10/shubham-banerjee-lego-based-braille-printer.html?page%3Dall). *upstart.bizjournals.com*. January 1, 2015. Retrieved 2019-07-18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** ["Braigo"](https://www.socialtech.org.uk/projects/braigo/). *Social Tech Guide*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** ["TI Media Official Website|winners of trusted reviews awards 2014 revealed"](https://www.ti-media.com/about/news/press-release/winners-of-trusted-reviews-awards-2014-revealed/). *www.ti-media.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** ["The State of the World's Children 2015: Executive Summary"](https://www.unicef.org/publications/index_77928.html). *UNICEF*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** Inventor, Shubham Banerjee | Young. ["BRAIGO and my quest to make an advanced, affordable Braille printer"](https://sowc2015.unicef.org/stories/young-inventor-makes-lego-braille-printer/). *The State of the World's Children 2015*.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list)) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_numeric_names:_authors_list))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-auto2_27-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-auto2_27-1) ["Braigo"](https://www.facebook.com/BraigoPrinter/photos/a.284346811718128/285195374966605/?type=3). *www.facebook.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** ["25 Uplifting, Quirky Things That Could Only Happen in America"](https://www.rd.com/culture/best-of-america-2014/). June 11, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-fastcompany1_29-0)** Nagy, Evie (April 11, 2014). ["These Lego Robots Solve Real-World Problems"](https://www.fastcompany.com/3029011/these-lego-robots-solve-real-world-problems). *Fast Company*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** ["My CMS"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160307185520/http://open-siliconvalley.org/index.php?catid=14&id=162:open-forum-2014-early-bird-registration-expires-on-march-31st&itemid=479&option=com_content&view=article). Archived from [the original](http://www.open-siliconvalley.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=162:open-forum-2014-early-bird-registration-expires-on-march-31st&catid=14&Itemid=479) on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2015-05-01.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** ["2014 APA Heritage Month Honorees - Asian Americans for Community Involvement"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140426232332/http://aaci.org/bulletin/aaci-nbc-honorees/). Archived from [the original](http://aaci.org/bulletin/aaci-nbc-honorees/) on 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2014-04-25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** ["Shubham Banerjee Brings Braille To The White House Maker Faire | Make"](https://makezine.com/2014/06/18/shubham-banerjee-brings-braille-to-the-white-house-maker-faire/). *makezine.com*. November 30, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** [Braigo labs Inc](http://www.braigolabs.com)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** [Brago Labs Inc. - What we do](http://www.braigolabs.com/what-we-do/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150219151454/http://www.braigolabs.com/what-we-do/) 2015-02-19 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** ["Intel IDF14 Keynote - The Mega Session can be viewed on Intel's website (skip to 25:41 mins into the video for Braigo v2.0)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140914051412/http://intelstudios.edgesuite.net/idf/2014/sf/mega/140909_mb/index.html). Archived from [the original](http://intelstudios.edgesuite.net/idf/2014/sf/mega/140909_mb/index.html) on 2014-09-14. Retrieved 2014-09-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** Gage, Deborah (November 4, 2014). ["Intel Capital Invests $62 Million in a Range of Tech Startups"](https://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/11/04/intel-capital-invests-62-million-in-a-range-of-tech-startups/). *Wall Street Journal*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** ["Intel Capital puts $62 million in 16 companies; to invest $355 million in 2014"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141208214230/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-11-05/news/55798388_1_data-analytics-16-companies-innovative-companies). Archived from [the original](http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-11-05/news/55798388_1_data-analytics-16-companies-innovative-companies) on December 8, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** ["Intel Capital invests $62M in 16 tech startups"](https://venturebeat.com/2014/11/04/intel-capital-invests-62m-in-16-tech-startups/). November 4, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-39)** Gage, Deborah (November 5, 2014). ["Intel Capital's Arvind Sodhani: Unique Companies 'Rarer and Rarer'"](https://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/11/04/intel-capitals-arvind-sodhani-unique-companies-rarer-and-rarer/). *Wall Street Journal*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-40)** ["13-Year-Old Builds Braille Printer from Legos, Gets Deal at Intel Capital"](https://people.com/celebrity/shubham-banerjee-makes-braille-printer-from-legos-for-the-blind-gets-intel-deal/). *PEOPLE.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-41)** [Student entrepreneur uses Windows and Surface to build a better Braille printer](http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/05/13/student-entrepreneur-uses-windows-and-surface-to-build-a-better-braille-printer/)

v t e Robot kits Kits Bioloid Boe-Bot G-Dog HERO (Discontinued) I-bot Mindstorms RIS NXT EV3 qfix SRV-1 Stiquito SVS TekBots TETRIX The Robotic Workshop (Discontinued) VEX WonderBorg Software AForge.NET Companies Hobby Products International Kondo Lego Parallax Tamiya Thinklabs Braigo See also Robot Robotics suite Adaptable robotics

v t e Braille ⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑ Braille cell 1829 braille International uniformity ASCII braille Unicode braille patterns Braille scripts French-ordered Albanian Cantonese Catalan Chinese (mainland Mandarin) (largely reassigned) Czech Dutch 6-dot 8-dot English (Unified English) Esperanto French German Ghanaian Guarani Hawaiian Hungarian Iñupiaq IPA Irish Italian Latvian Lithuanian Luxembourgish (extended to 8-dot) Maltese Māori Navajo Nigerian Philippine Polish Portuguese Romanian Samoan Slovak South African Spanish Taiwanese Mandarin (largely reassigned) Turkish (Azerbaijani) Vietnamese Welsh Yugoslav Zambian Nordic family Estonian Faroese Icelandic Scandinavian Danish Finnish Greenlandic Northern Sámi Norwegian Swedish Russian lineage family i.e. Cyrillic-mediated scripts Belarusian Bulgarian Kazakh Kyrgyz Mongolian Russian Tatar Ukrainian Egyptian lineage family i.e. Arabic-mediated scripts Arabic Persian Urdu (Pakistan) Indian lineage family i.e. Bharati Braille Devanagari (Hindi / Marathi / Nepali) Bengali (Bangla / Assamese) Gujarati Kannada Malayalam Odia Punjabi Sinhala Tamil Telugu Urdu (India) Other scripts Amharic Armenian Burmese Dzongkha (Bhutanese) Georgian Greek Hebrew Inuktitut (reassigned vowels) Khmer Thai and Lao (Japanese vowels) Tibetan Reordered Algerian Braille (obsolete) Frequency-based American Braille (obsolete) Independent Chinese semi-syllabaries Cantonese Mainland Chinese Mandarin Taiwanese Mandarin Two-cell Chinese (Shuangpin) Japanese Korean Eight-dot Dutch Luxembourgish Kanji Gardner–Salinas braille codes (GS8) Symbols in braille Braille music Canadian currency marks Computer Braille Code Gardner–Salinas braille codes (science; GS8/GS6) International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Nemeth braille code Braille technology Braille e-book Braille embosser Braille translator Braille watch Mountbatten Brailler Optical braille recognition Perforation Perkins Brailler Refreshable braille display Slate and stylus Braigo People Louis Braille Charles Barbier Róża Czacka Valentin Haüy Harris Mowbray Thakur Vishva Narain Singh Sabriye Tenberken William Bell Wait Organisations Braille Institute of America Braille Without Borders Japan Braille Library National Braille Association Blindness organizations Schools for the blind American Printing House for the Blind Other tactile alphabets Decapoint Moon type New York Point Night writing Vibratese Related topics Accessible publishing Braille literacy RoboBraille

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Braigo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braigo) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braigo?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.