13岁男孩发明了新的盲文打印机

 13-year-old invents new Braille printer

13岁男孩发明了新的盲文打印机

A 13-year-old American has made a cheap machine that can help blind people read. People who cannot see can read by using Braille – a system of small bumps that people touch to read the letters. Machines that make these small bumps into words, sentences and paragraphs are very expensive. They are called Braille embossers and usually cost at least $2,000. The American teenager, Shubham Banerjee, made a new Braille embosser from a Lego kit¹ that lets people create robots. It costs just $350. Banerjee has called his new device the Braigo – a combination of the words Braille and Lego. It works by translating electronic text into Braille and then printing it using a computer or mobile device.

 

Banerjee designed his Braigo last year for a school science fair. Since then, he has caught the interest of Silicon² Valley in the USA. The technology giant Intel invested in Banerjee's machine last November, but they did not say how much money they put in. Banerjee also got $35,000 from his father to help him start the project. His father works as a computer engineer at Intel. He spoke³ about why he gave so much money to his son, saying: "We as parents started to get involved more, thinking that he's on to something and this innovation process has to continue." Banerjee told the AP news agency that: "My end goal would probably be having most of the blind people...using my Braille printer.“

1 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。