Development of a dynamic hands-free door opener to prevent covid-19 pandemic spreading

Abstract

The situation caused by COVID-19 has shown several vulnerabilities in the attitudes and habits of modern society, inducing the need to adopt new behaviors that will directly impact daily activities. The quickly spreading virus contaminates the surfaces of handles and objects, and subsequent contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth is one of the main contagion factors. There is an urgent need to rethink how we interact with the most-touched surfaces, such as door handles in public places with a high flux of people. A revision was performed of the most-used door handles to develop a proposal that could be applied to already existing models, thus avoiding the need for their total replacement. Through interaction between engineering, design, and ergonomics, an auxiliary hands-free door opener device was developed, following iteration improvement from an initial static geometry and culminating in a dynamic system aiming to provide greater ergonomic comfort in its use. The development followed a methodology using 3D modelling supported by 3D printing of the various components to accurately understand their functioning. In addition, the finite element method supported the prediction of the structural behavior of the developed systems. The final models were produced through CNC machining and submitted to functional validation tests with volunteers. The developed HFDO demonstrated relevant differentiation from the existing models on the market: for its geometry and material, but mainly for its strong emphasis on the interaction between the object and the user, resulting from the dynamic component in its use/manipulation.