Robert W. Mann, 81; Engineer Helped Invent Braille Print Machine
From: Times Staff and Wire Reports - 06/27/2006

Robert W. Mann, 81, a mechanical engineer and designer who helped create a
Braille printing machine and advanced prosthetic joints, died of a heart
attack June 16 in Moultonborough, NH. 

An early practitioner in the field of rehabilitation engineering, Mann began
guiding students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1950s. 

Mann and others at MIT worked on a computer program for translating English
text into Braille in the 1960s and '70s. The program was part of a larger
project to develop a computer-directed Braille-embossing machine to give the
blind quicker access to printed material. The result was a device called MIT
Braillemboss that printed efficiently and has seen broad use. 

Mann and his students also produced a folding cane that was a low-technology
solution to a formidable problem for the blind: how to stow a cane quickly
when entering a car or other vehicle. He also helped design a complex
prosthetic elbow that became known as the Boston arm; it joined an
electromechanical device with remnant muscle tissue to enable amputees to
perform a lifting action. 

Read the article at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-passings27.1jun27,1,6504474.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california

Submitted by Jerry Weisman

Links:
Robert W. Mann, 81, Designer of Devices for Handicapped, Dies
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/24/us/24mann.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Professor Robert W. Mann, leader in prosthetics, dies at 81
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/obit-mann.html

Robert W. Mann
http://news.bostonherald.com/obituaries/view.bg?articleid=144846

Robert W. Mann of MIT; worked to solve disabilities
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2006/06/21/robert_w_mann_of_mit_worked_to_solve_disabilities/

Reflections on a half century as we approach the millennium - Guest Editorial
http://www.vard.org/jour/99/36/1/gsted361.htm