Accessible Test

Newt: New Tools for use with FV/LMA

(New)
Technical Research met with the Project Leader to discuss this new product. It will include some items from existing products and purchased off the shelf items. Technical Research will begin looking at parts needed for prototypes as time becomes available.

PATTER, Large Print w/CD & DVD

(Completed)

Technical Research worked with the Project Leader in developing product specifications and turning them over to Production in late September. The first production run of this product was completed and placed into stock in February 2009.

PATTER, Braille w/CD & DVD

(Completed)
Technical Research worked with the Project Leader in developing product specifications and turning them over to Production in late September. The first production run of this product was completed and placed into stock in February 2009.

Pattern Matching Cards for Textured Beads

(New)
A “Brainstorming” PDC meeting was held in mid-January. Dates were established up to product documentation at this meeting. Project Leader noted in the April New Products Meeting that the Model Shop had completed the tooling for this project. Technical Research is not actively working on this product at this time due to departmental workload.

Picture Maker Accessories: Geometric Textured Shapes

(Completed)
Technical Research created CAD drawings for nine dies containing various shape/sized parts that are included in this kit. There was extensive research and development, specifying use of existing materials in conjunction with sixteen new materials for this product. Specifications were turned over to Production with production scheduled for February 2009. The dies and most of the materials had arrived and been approved for production by the end of April 2009. Production was successfully completed in July. Due to limits in available time among all departments and the fact the no significant issues developed during production, Technical Research tested an alternative method of conducting the “Production Debriefing Meeting” that marks the completed phase of a products development. This test used the “polling feature” of Outlook. An email was sent, requiring the recipient to “vote” and/or “respond” to any known issues. Outlook tracks these responses, which can then be sent back to the group. There were no responses indicating problems; this time saving “virtual” meeting seemed to work and may be used again. Subsequent to the production of the kit and the de-briefing meeting the Project Leader noticed there were five parts packed in the kit of three different shapes (a circle, a doughnut, and an “X”) instead of the required six. A small pack of the three shapes was made and 230 kits that were in stock had the missing parts added and were re-stocked. The 170 kits already sold had the replacement parts mailed out to the customers on August 31. Technical Research facilitated and coordinated the repair of the existing kits, obtained a mailing list for the kits already sold, and coordinated the packing and mailing of the replacement parts for the kits already sold.

Printing Guide

(Continued)

This product will be a mechanical template to help teach printing skills. Technical Research designed and fabricated several versions for the Project Leader’s review and produced ten each of the two preferred designs. Technical Research will work with the Project Leader to help design and fabricate tooling for this project as needed and will develop product specifications as final decisions are made. Currently the project has been moved back to the PARCing lot and is on hold.

QWERTY Docking Station

(Completed)
This item was an accessory for the Braille +. It was processed through APH as a pass-through item. Technical Research worked with the Project Leader, Purchasing, Inventory, Warehousing, and Quality Assurance to see that this item was ordered, inspected upon receipt and placed into stock. This item was placed into stock in March.
Battery for QWERTY Docking Station

AC/DC Adapter for QWERTY Docking Station

Case for QWERTY Docking Station

RefreshaBraille 18

(Completed)
This item was processed through APH as a pass-through item. Technical Research worked with the Project Leader, Purchasing, Inventory, Warehousing, and Quality Assurance to see that this item was ordered, inspected upon receipt and placed into stock. This item was placed into stock in January.

SAM; Symbols and Meaning

(Continued)
The Project Leader held a “Brainstorming” PDC meeting, presented the concepts of the product, and opened the floor for ideas on how to make some of the items in the kit. Some items originally discussed for the kit turned out to be impractical to manufacture and have been dropped from the original list, such as weighted cup(s) with removable handles (or weight wrap for use on cups), and weight wraps (for use on utensils, toothbrushes, hairbrushes). Technical Research met with Project Leader, Purchasing, and vendor to discuss the specific of several purchased items needed for this kit. These are a portable recording device (likely a mini-cassette or personal digital recorder), a custom-made bag made in three sizes and a collapsible mesh box (cloth). Remaining items are either stock APH items (such as Calendar Boxes or Small Work and Play Tray) or easily purchasable items like cloth and binders. These materials were obtained for field-testing. Technical Research provided assistance in producing, obtaining, and packaging these items. The kit is currently out for field-testing. Technical Research has no additional information to report at this time.

Sense of Science—Astronomy

(Continued)
There was a great deal of work between Technical Research, the Project Leader, and Model Shop to develop/document new production process for items for this product. This product is heavy in various standard and new production methods. Technical Research was involved with assisting with standard in-house methods and developing the tooling requirements for several new processes. Technical Research assisted with obtaining cutting dies, generating silk-screen tooling and production screens, and developing the tooling and production processes for items using vinyl printed in the offset process. Technical Research also generated CAD drawings for an expanded Carry Case. This is designed to have a clear view pocket, that holds a multi-color product insert on one panel and be screen-printed on a number of the other panels for easy identification of the case. Previous Sense of Science kits had multiple print overlays for each tactile. The subject matter was often broken into sub-parts. For this kit, the clear overlays, which are the main component of the Sense of Science products, will be limited to one print overlay and its corresponding clear tactile counterpart. With the possibility of printing the overlays using offset process, there is a greater range of both color and detail that will be available. Technical Research scanned the actual clear vacuum-formed sheets and generated graphics that included line drawings and fills that the Project Leader could work with to create final art that met the requirements for such a complex topic. These were turned over in early August. Testing for printing in the offset process directly onto clear vinyl is scheduled for early September. The vendor has worked with their ink suppliers, and feels confident in their ability to satisfy our requirements. The test will be a confirmation of the process, used for this kit and several others in development. Because of the time to develop new process, the Project Leader re-established dates on the production timeline. Specifications are currently due in December 2009.
Sense of Science: Astronomy Large Type Manual

Sense of Science: Astronomy Braille Manual

Sense of Science: Astronomy Worksheets
The Project Leader decided to make several components part of the kit and separately available as catalog items. This product will consist of both printed and braille embossed Worksheets packaged together as a set. The print Worksheets will be produced with standard methods. Technical Research proposed using the interpoint 55 embossing machine because of its ability to have alphanumeric identifiers placed into the sheets, eliminating the need for plate fabrication for the braille. After some preliminary testing, the Project Leader felt that this would be an important feature to have. Technical Research worked with the Braille Transcription department, providing instructions on how to create, format and insert the identifiers into the braille document.