Presentation

Christopher Kitchen

Automated doors have allowed buildings to be significantly more accessible, giving people with physical impairments the ability to navigate more independently, and generally being convenient for everyone. However, while current door automating systems offer great accessibility, the systems themselves are not very accessible to the general public. They typically cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars, have extremely involved installation, and are huge, intrusive devices. Doorbot solves these problems with a low profile, easy to use, and affordable design. Doorbot uses two motors to open a door, one that pulls the doors handle down with a string, and one with a wheel on the ground to roll the door open. To install Doorbot, the user simply slides the device beneath the door and uses the ratcheting mechanism to push up and grip the door, while pushing the wheel against the ground for improved traction. Then, after attaching the string on the device to the door handle with its strapping mechanism, the user can simply actuate the remote control to open that door. Since the design only requires two motors, a receiver, and remote, it can be made for under a hundred dollars.