Interpreting non-flat surfaces for walkability analysis

Through laser scanning, GIS data, new manufacturing methods, and complex designs, analysis of terrain in relation to human mobility is becoming ever more necessary. While standards for wheelchair ramps exist, they rarely show the entire picture, nor do they account for surface variation beyond a single axis. Although graph creation techniques in CAD exist for flat terrain, directional edge weights accounting for this variation are lacking. In this paper, a summary of research from both biomechanics and architecture in relation to surface walkability is presented, followed by a review of creation methods for a searchable graph representing an environment in CAD. A novel graph creation method that can respond to variations in surface height for walkability analysis is presented, where the edge weights of the graph are based on surface condition of parent-child height variations.