Nowadays new realities and paradigms emerge in the world in a diverse society that
questions and plans new ways of social inclusion of the person with disability.
Assistive technology addresses the resources and services used to increase,
maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of people with disabilities. The search
for new inclusive technologies has stimulated and fostered new researches of
specialized technological resources, aid equipment, which are being used and
produced more frequently in recent years. The objective of this research is to select
the best material for disassembled walking sticks for the visually impaired because it
is a fragile and low durability element, aiming to assist the locomotion of these users
offering them more safety, comfort and satisfaction. Five types of materials were
evaluated, the 10% and 15% rubber tires of orthophthalic polyester resin; the epoxy
resin incorporated with 10% and 15% rubber of waste tires; and acrylonitrile-styrene
(ABS) plastic made by 3D prototyping. The performance measures considered for
multicriteria evaluation were resistance (traction and impact), specific mass, moisture
absorption, cost, sound propagation, resistance to friction and tip change. The
methodological procedure was carried out in three stages: (i) the experimental in the
laboratory, which involved the characterization of the materials, to obtain the
technical variables, through mechanical and physical tests; (ii) experimental in the
field, through a research with the visually impaired of a local association to obtain the
qualitative variables; and (iii) the multicriteria evaluation, in which the overall
performance indicators of the evaluated alternatives were calculated. The technique
of Decision Multicriteria Analysis (AMD), Technique for Order Preference by Smile to
Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used, which proved to be appropriate for the analysis of
the problem because conflicting and divergent attributes were identified, between
quantitative and qualitative measures , besides the attribution of weights according to
the preference of a professional of the area for the selection of the ideal tip. The
results showed that the ABS material tip, manufactured in the 3D printer, performed
better than the other composite tips because it was better in the criteria of higher
weights and lower in the criteria with less relevant weights, such as the exchange of
the tip.
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