It is generally accepted that society has a responsibility to allow all of its members enjoy a reasonable standard of living, and to lead their lives with self-respect and dignity as active members of that society. This dignity can be attained through a positive input into their chosen profession. However so many barriers stand between the paraplegic operator in an industrial/educational setting that this self-respect and dignity are merely aspirations. By acknowledging this fact one may endeavour to adapt and modify certain manufacturing tools, thus providing paraplegic operators with an opportunity to become equals in the industrial and educational arenas. As this modification is basically a design problem the investigation into the machines' functionality provides an insight into the possible solutions and their implementation, this coupled with the design analysis provides many possibilities into the future of machine design with respect to paraplegic operators.
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