scholarly journals Design Considerations for Therapeutic Devices - An Investigation of Pre-Schoolers’ Preferences for an Artefact’s Basic Characteristics

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 877-886
Author(s):  
Emanuel Balzan ◽  
Philip Farrugia ◽  
Owen Casha ◽  
Liberato Camilleri ◽  
Andrew Wodehouse
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Surface Appearance ◽  
Design Considerations ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Material Hardness ◽  
Basic Characteristics ◽  
Dominant Characteristic ◽  
Set Up

AbstractToys are children's first consumer products and while playing they acquire numerous skills, learn about their environment and socialise with other children and adults. Toys are adapted and used by clinicians as therapeutic devices because they allow them to create bonds and communicate with children. Aesthetical aspects should be considered early in the design process, especially since pre-schoolers’ views are still dominated by the appearance of artefacts, also known as, the perceptual salient characteristics. The study of emotions mediates the understanding of the relationships between a product, user and the process with which consumers set up preferences over products. Decisions taken in each design stage will influence whether therapeutic devices will be enjoyed by children. An experiment was carried out to test out pre-schoolers’ preferences on individual attributes: form, dimension, material (hardness and weight) and surface (appearance and texture). This study exposed dominant characteristic preferences and the fact that some are influenced by gender and age. Employing these findings in therapeutic devices will enable clinicians to better engage the children during therapy.

Product Modeling, Evaluation and Validation at the Detailed Design Stage

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Iorga ◽  
Alain Desrochers
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Product Modeling ◽  
Specific Product ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Product Variation ◽  
Process Methodology ◽  
Capstone Projects ◽  
Short Time

The expansion of the markets corroborated with product customization and short time to launch the product have led to new levels of competition among product development companies. To be successful in the globalization of the markets and to enable the evaluation and validation of products, companies have to develop methodologies focused on lifecycle analysis and reduction of product variation to obtain both quality and robustness of products. Keywords: Modeling, Evaluation, Validation, Design ProcessThis paper proposes a new design process methodology that unifies theoretical results of modeling stage and empirical findings obtained from the validation stage. The evaluations and validations of engineering design are very important and they have a high influence on product performances and their functionality, as well on the customer perceptions.Given that most companies maintain the confidentiality of their product development processes and that the existing literature does not provide more detailed aspects of this field, the proposed methodology will represent a technical and logistical support intended for students or engineers involved in academic as well as industrial projects.A generic methodology will be refined based on a new approach that will take into consideration the specification types (quantitative or qualitative), the design objectives and the product types: new/improved, structural/esthetic. Hence the new generic methodology will be composed of specific product validation algorithms taking into account the above considerations. At the end of this paper, the improvements provided by the proposed methodology into the design process will be shown in the context of the engineering student capstone projects at the Université de Sherbrooke.

scholarly journals Developing a BIM-Based MUVR Treadmill System for Architectural Design Review and Collaboration

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6881
Author(s):  
Calvin Chung Wai Keung ◽  
Jung In Kim ◽  
Qiao Min Ong
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Human Locomotion ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Design Review ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Physical Constraints ◽  
Simulated Environment ◽  
Set Up ◽  
High Level

Virtual reality (VR) is quickly becoming the medium of choice for various architecture, engineering, and construction applications, such as design visualization, construction planning, and safety training. In particular, this technology offers an immersive experience to enhance the way architects review their design with team members. Traditionally, VR has used a desktop PC or workstation setup inside a room, yielding the risk of two users bump into each other while using multiuser VR (MUVR) applications. MUVR offers shared experiences that disrupt the conventional single-user VR setup, where multiple users can communicate and interact in the same virtual space, providing more realistic scenarios for architects in the design stage. However, this shared virtual environment introduces challenges regarding limited human locomotion and interactions, due to physical constraints of normal room spaces. This study thus presented a system framework that integrates MUVR applications into omnidirectional treadmills. The treadmills allow users an immersive walking experience in the simulated environment, without space constraints or hurt potentialities. A prototype was set up and tested in several scenarios by practitioners and students. The validated MUVR treadmill system aims to promote high-level immersion in architectural design review and collaboration.

Experimental Investigation into Driver Behavior along Curved and Parallel Diverging Terminals of Exit Interchange Ramps

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812199742
Author(s):  
Alberto Portera ◽  
Marco Bassani
Keyword(s):  
Design Stage ◽  
Lane Change ◽  
Age And Gender ◽  
Traffic Conditions ◽  
Current Design ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Safety Countermeasures ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Curve Radius

Current design manuals provide guidance on how to design exit ramps to facilitate driving operations and minimize the incidence of crashes. They also suggest that interchanges should be built along straight roadway sections. These criteria may prove ineffective in situations where there is no alternative to terminals being located along curved motorway segments. The paper investigates driving behavior along parallel deceleration curved terminals, with attention paid to the difference in impact between terminals having a curvature which is the same sign as the motorway segment (i.e., continue design), and those having an opposite curvature (i.e., reverse design). A driving simulation study was set up to collect longitudinal and transversal driver behavioral data in response to experimental factor variations. Forty-eight drivers were stratified on the basis of age and gender, and asked to drive along three randomly assigned circuits with off-ramps obtained by combining experimental factors such as motorway mainline curve radius (2 values), terminal length (3), curve direction (2), and traffic conditions (2). The motorway radius was found to be significant for drivers’ preferred speed when approaching the terminal. Terminal length and traffic volume do not have a significant impact on either longitudinal or transversal driver outputs. However, the effect of curve direction was found to be significant, notably for reverse terminals which do not compel drivers to select appropriate speeds and lane change positions. This terminal type can give rise to critical driving situations that should be considered at the design stage to facilitate the adoption of appropriate safety countermeasures.

scholarly journals Energy Rating of Buildings to Promote Energy-Conscious Design in Israel

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Abraham Yezioro ◽  
Isaac Guedi Capeluto
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Basic Unit ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Design Decision ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
New Buildings

Improving the energy efficiency of existing and new buildings is an important step towards achieving more sustainable environments. There are various methods for grading buildings that are required according to regulations in different places for green building certification. However, in new buildings, these rating systems are usually implemented at late design stages due to their complexity and lack of integration in the architectural design process, thus limiting the available options for improving their performance. In this paper, the model ENERGYui used for design and rating buildings in Israel is presented. One of its main advantages is that it can be used at any design stage, including the early ones. It requires information that is available at each stage only, as the additional necessary information is supplemented by the model. In this way, architects can design buildings in a way where they are aware of each design decision and its impact on their energy performance, while testing different design directions. ENERGYui rates the energy performance of each basic unit, as well as the entire building. The use of the model is demonstrated in two different scenarios: an office building in which basic architectural features such as form and orientation are tested from the very beginning, and a residential building in which the intervention focuses on its envelope, highlighting the possibilities of improving their design during the whole design process.

In-Between and Through: Architecture and Complexity

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clarissa Ribeiro Pereira de Almeida ◽  
Anja Pratschke ◽  
Renata La Rocca
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Software Engineering ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Three Dimensional Modeling ◽  
Dimensional Modeling ◽  
Complex Thought ◽  
Basic Characteristics

This paper draws on current research on complexity and design process in architecture and offers a proposal for how architects might bring complex thought to bear on the understanding of design process as a complex system, to understand architecture as a way of organizing events, and of organizing interaction. Our intention is to explore the hypothesis that the basic characteristics of complex systems – emergence, nonlinearity, self-organization, hologramaticity, and so forth – can function as effective tools for conceptualization that can usefully extend the understanding of the way architects think and act throughout the design process. To illustrate the discussions, we show how architects might bring complex thought inside a transdisciplinary design process by using models such as software engineering diagrams, and three-dimensional modeling network environments such as media to integrate, connect and ‘trans–act’.

Design, Reliability and Manufacturing Readiness for MEMS Microphone

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganesh Iyer ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
Lavanya Gopalakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Signal ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Smart Phones ◽  
System Level ◽  
Design Considerations ◽  
Final Assembly ◽  
Mems Microphone ◽  
Robust System ◽  
Manufacturing Readiness ◽  
Consumer Devices

Microphone is a critical component for seamless communication converting an acoustic signal (vocal) to an electrical signal. Traditionally Electrets Condenser Microphones (ECM) have been the primary proponent of audio component in many consumer products. With functionally rich consumer devices (example smart phones, etc) there is a growing trend to look at components with higher functionality but a smaller form factor. Microelectronic Mechanical Systems (MEMS) microphone is seen as a possible replacement to ECM due to its significant reduction in form fit with additional functionality. The paper is an effort to illustrate steps that can be considered while designing MEMS microphone in a system. This includes Design considerations, Reliability tests, Manufacturing challenges and Readiness to ensure higher yield during the final assembly. Manufacturing issues (Top 5) and guideline presented in the paper are not just to increase the assembly yield (system level), but also to increase an awareness upfront to the design phase to help create a robust system/product.

scholarly journals Development of Design Process Simulator for the Ship Initial Design Stage

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (0) ◽  
pp. 211-222
Author(s):  
Kunihiro Hamada ◽  
Mitsuru Kitamura ◽  
Souichi Yasui ◽  
Hiroshi Kawasaki
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Initial Design ◽  
Process Simulator

An investigation of the mass-market fashion design process

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prabod Dharshana Munasinghe ◽  
D.G.K. Dissanayake ◽  
Angela Druckman
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Market Design ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Fashion Design ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Mass Market ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Responsible Consumption ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The process of fashion design varies between market segments, yet these variations have not yet been properly explored. This study aims to examine the fashion design process as practised at the mass-market level, as this is the most vibrant and the largest market segment in terms of production volumes and sales. Design/methodology/approach It is observed that 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with mass-market fashion designers. Key activities of the mass-market design process were identified and a comparative analysis was conducted with the general design process. Findings The mass-market design process is found to prioritise profits rather than aesthetic aspects, with the buyer exercising more power than the designer. This hinders creativity, which, in turn, may impede a move towards more environmentally benign designs. Originality/value The clothing industry is responsible for high environmental impacts and many of these impacts arise through decisions made in the design stage. In particular, the mass-market for clothing because of its high volume of sales and fast throughput, accounts for a great deal of the impact. However, little is understood about the design process that is practised in the mass-fashion market. This paper fills the gap by developing a framework that describes the mass-market design process. Understanding the design process will enable progress to be made towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.

scholarly journals FEM Based Preliminary Design Optimization in Case of Large Power Transformers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamás Orosz ◽  
David Pánek ◽  
Pavel Karban
Keyword(s):  
Design Optimization ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Optimization Method ◽  
Power Transformers ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Preliminary Design ◽  
Large Power ◽  
Custom Made ◽  
Transformer Design

Since large power transformers are custom-made, and their design process is a labor-intensive task, their design process is split into different parts. In tendering, the price calculation is based on the preliminary design of the transformer. Due to the complexity of this task, it belongs to the most general branch of discrete, non-linear mathematical optimization problems. Most of the published algorithms are using a copper filling factor based winding model to calculate the main dimensions of the transformer during this first, preliminary design step. Therefore, these cost optimization methods are not considering the detailed winding layout and the conductor dimensions. However, the knowledge of the exact conductor dimensions is essential to calculate the thermal behaviour of the windings and make a more accurate stray loss calculation. The paper presents a novel, evolutionary algorithm-based transformer optimization method which can determine the optimal conductor shape for the windings during this examined preliminary design stage. The accuracy of the presented FEM method was tested on an existing transformer design. Then the results of the proposed optimization method have been compared with a validated transformer design optimization algorithm.

Optioneering of long viaducts via parametric design

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M. Sobota
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Parametric Design ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Parametric Modelling ◽  
Parametric Approach ◽  
Early Design Stage ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
Suitable Approximation

<p><br clear="none"/></p><p>During the optioneering phase, engineers face the challenge of choosing between myriads of possible designs, while, simultaneously, several sorts of constraints have to be considered. We show in a case study of a 380 m long viaduct how parametric modelling can facilitate the design process. The main challenge was to satisfy the constraints imposed by several different stakeholders. In order to identify sustainable, aesthetic, economic as well as structurally efficient options, we assessed several key performance indicators in real time. By automatically estimating steel and concrete volumes, a simple, yet suitable approximation of the embodied carbon (considering 85-95%) can be obtained at a very early design stage. In summary, our parametric approach allowed us to consider a wider range of parameters and to react more flexibly to changing conditions during the project.</p><p><br clear="none"/></p>

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