Technical Paper
Guidelines for vehicle development based on principles of universal design
2008-10-07
2008-36-0257
In order to fulfill the users' needs, many innovations are included in vehicles. However, not all of these vehicles can be used by People with Special Needs (PSN), due to their technical characteristics and/or adaptation cost, even with the financial incentives offered by Brazilian Government. In this context, the Universal Design (UD) is inserted, where PSN and people without physical deficiencies can use the same vehicle, with little or no adaptation. In order to identify the needs of PSN, interviews were carried out with PSN and exhibiters of automotive products for PSN, in the VII Reatech 2008 (International Fair of Technologies of Rehabilitation, Inclusion and Accessibility), where can be highlighted: to lower the car floor; to improve the door access (increasing width, height and opening angle); to improve the internal space of vehicles; to reduce the cost of adaptation kits; and others.