Affiliations: [a] Department of Electronics, Signal Processing Laboratory, University of Frères Mentouri, Constantine, Algeria | [b] LCOMS Laboratory, Lorraine University, Metz, France | [c] Department of Electrical Electronic Engineering, Automatic Laboratory, University of Abou Bekr Belkaid, Tlemcen, Algeria
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Ali Saidi Sief, Department of Electronics, Signal Processing Laboratory, University of Frères Mentouri, Route Ain El Bey 25000, Constantine, Algeria. Tel.: +213 31 81 11 06; Fax: +213 31 81 11 06; E-mail:saidi_sief_ali@yahoo.com
Abstract: The conception and rehabilitation of apartments for people
with disabilities, using computer simulation methods, are relatively recent.
This paper aims to present a new method of assessing a wheelchair user's
capacity to have access to swinging doors, as an example. The accessibility
assessment is achieved by determining the adequate maneuvering clearances at
doorways for a wheelchair user to open, cross and close, easily, a swinging
door. The user's upper body deficiencies are taken into consideration in
several wheelchair designs. The results obtained revealed that our method
may help designing and rehabilitating apartments for this category of
people, while increasing their autonomy and decreasing the risks they may be
exposed to.
Keywords: Accessibility, handling element, wheelchair, wheelchair mobility space, person with disabilities, wheelchair user, inverse kinematics, swinging doors, wheelchair maneuvering clearance
