braille switch matrix

OOPS ! After reading the post of Mr. Ellison, I realized that my previous answer might be absolutely out-of-topic... I interpreted "Braille switch matrix" as the output unit (display) based on 6 solenoids that generates the tactile dots pattern that can be read from blind people. If you are looking for INPUT device, then you can try this way: realize a "tactile switches" matrix on a pcb (tactile switches are cheap and with long operating life). Apply a plastic (or metal) mask over the switches matrix, with a hole of about 10mm diameter centered on every tactile switch. This plate must be placed at right distance from the PCB. In practice, the top of tactile switch pin must be at 0.1 - 0.2 mm distance from the surface of the plastic-metal plate. Now, cover the plate with adhesive mylar sheet, with embossed pattern for each Braille character you want, each placed at the center of a tactile switch (and the 10 mm plate hole). Et voilà, you have your keyboard.

To emboss the mylar, you can use a CNC machine with the right tool for this purpose (pressure or temperature can be used to create the bubbles) and a proper program. On my blog at this url: http://ficara.altervista.org/?p=1508 you can find an example of a program (very old, compiled with 16 bit Windows tool) to generate a G-Code for a dot matrix punch/drill operation on CNC machine. Changing the internal "character generator" from actual 5x7 dots to 2x3 dots (Braille), it's possible to realize the embossed mylar sheet. Hope to be "in-topic" this time

OOPS ! After reading the post of Mr. Ellison, I realized that my previous answer might be absolutely out-of-topic... I interpreted "Braille switch matrix" as the output unit (display) based on 6 solenoids that generates the tactile dots pattern that can be read from blind people. If you are looking for INPUT device, then you can try this way: realize a "tactile switches" matrix on a pcb (tactile switches are cheap and with long operating life). Apply a plastic (or metal) mask over the switches matrix, with a hole of about 10mm diameter centered on every tactile switch. This plate must be placed at right distance from the PCB. In practice, the top of tactile switch pin must be at 0.1 - 0.2 mm distance from the surface of the plastic-metal plate. Now, cover the plate with adhesive mylar sheet, with embossed pattern for each Braille character you want, each placed at the center of a tactile switch (and the 10 mm plate hole). Et voilà, you have your keyboard.

To emboss the mylar, you can use a CNC machine with the right tool for this purpose (pressure or temperature can be used to create the bubbles) and a proper program. On my blog at this url: http://ficara.altervista.org/?p=1508 you can find an example of a program (very old, compiled with 16 bit Windows tool) to generate a G-Code for a dot matrix punch/drill operation on CNC machine. Changing the internal "character generator" from actual 5x7 dots to 2x3 dots (Braille), it's possible to realize the embossed mylar sheet. Hope to be "in-topic" this time