We know that this is a real problem because heavy-duty wheelchairs are becoming more common everyday in the U.S.

A heavy-duty wheelchair, or bariatric wheelchair, is for obese people who need a wheelchair due to injuries, etc. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years, which means that bariatric wheelchairs are becoming more common. Sometimes, bariatric wheelchairs may not fit through doors in public buildings, so we need to find way to fix that.

6th Grade Classroom Door Widths (inches) Class Measurement Science 34 inches ELA 34 inches S.S. 38 inches Robotics 34 inches Math 34 inches Gym 34 inches Mandarin 34 inches

There are two current solutions to this problem: 1. Get a narrower wheelchair. 2. Install a sliding door. 3. Have someone lift you out of your wheelchair and carry you into the room. There are several problems with these solutions. Getting a narrower wheelchair is expensive (around $300), and an obese person probably will not fit in that narrow wheelchair. Installing a sliding door is also very expensive, mostly more than a $1000. Having someone lift you out of your wheelchair and carry you into the room is inefficient and is sometimes not possible depending on the persons weight. Sometimes, there is no one to help you.

Our solution is the sliding wall. We will have a wall made of about 5-10 pieces. It will all be hollow. Each of the pieces will be smaller than the one before. This will go on until there is ample space for a door. Then there will be a regular door. Then if a wheelchair is to big to fit comfortably through then someone can push the smaller parts of the wall into the bigger one. Still dont understand? Look at the Diagram.

We know that our solution will work because we created a smaller model of the Sliding Wall using aluminum foil. We couldnt use raw aluminum because wed have to order it online and it would take time. All we wanted to do was make a prototype to test out. This is our prototype:

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Fail
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We tested out our prototype by sliding the wall back and forth 10 times. We only had one fail because our prototype fell apart. Otherwise, our design is very trustworthy, according to our data.

Our expert is Saptashikha Chowdhury. She is Birajs cousin and a civil engineer. Thats why we decided to ask her to help us improve our solution. She suggested to add a sensory device on the top of the door so if a person in a bariatric
wheelchair is approaching the sliding door it will open immediately. This will help because if the person in the wheelchair isnt accompanied by anyone, he or she could just go through alone. This will help not only bariatric people but everyone in general. This may increase the price but it will reduce the need for manpower.

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Robotics Commercial- No Limits 2014

Q: Isnt price a problem? A: Not at all. Aluminum in the U.S. costs about $0.79 per pound. Q:How will the sliding wall move? A: Our metal, aluminum, is extremely strong and is also lightweight, two of the reasons why we chose it. This means that it can be programmed to move with minimum force. Q: What if the sliding wall cant hold the weight of the ceiling? A: We have decided to put metal braces to support the weight of the ceiling.

We want the sliding wall to be a requirement for every school. We will also try to make it a requirement in hospitals, government buildings, and other public buildings as well. We no longer want to see people in wheelchairs struggle to fit through narrow doors.

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/fac ts.ht http://www.thiscaringhome.org/spec_concern s/wheelchairs.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bariatrics http://www.infomine.com/investment/metalprices/aluminum/