Effects of Immersion on Virtual Reality Prototype Design Reviews of Mechanical Assemblies

The proficiency of Computer Aided Design (CAD) to save, communicate and render realistic virtual prototypes allows for easier communication and review of proposed design decisions via design reviews. However, the use of virtual prototypes is limited by the realism of the human computer interface. This paper builds on previous research investigating if increasing the realism of input and output interactions between subjects and virtual prototypes will affect user’s ability to analyze an assembly for errors. For this end, two experiments were conducted which asked participants to perform design reviews on assembly models and identify errors in the assembly. The first experiment tested virtual prototype output display factors through subject point of view movement and virtual prototype rotation. The second experiment tested human input factors using different controller setups. It is expected the more realistic virtual prototype rendering and controller input experience will result in more accurate design reviews.

A Proposed Quality Metric for Ideation Effectiveness

A suitable quality metric is essential to improving ideation effectiveness. Many proposed quality metrics struggle to adequately capture this critical, subjective concept in a reliable and efficient way. This paper shows our development and testing of a quality metric that is meaningful, repeatable, and efficient. This quality metric is a weighted sum of quality dimensions adapted from the literature. The weighting factors for each dimension are adjusted to the specific ideation problem, and we present here a systematic method to quickly determine these weightings by experimental means. We demonstrate repeatability of the quality metric through interrater reliability, we show meaningfulness by comparing with raters’ intuitive interpretation of quality, and we demonstrate efficiency in the rating process. These initial findings show the quality metric has great promise and merits additional testing and refinement in future work.

“A Makerspace Is More Than Just a Room Full of Tools”: What Learning Looks Like for Female Students in Makerspaces

Postulating that the act of making stimulates learning, a widespread effort prompted the integration of makerspaces on college campuses. From community colleges to research-based higher education institutions, large investments were and still are being made to advance the making spirit and encourage non-traditional learning in academic settings. While optimistic that students are taking advantage of the makerspace resources and are in fact learning from their experiences, there needs to be a more direct effort to understand the learning, if any, that is occurring in the makerspace. The makerspace is labeled as an open, learning environment where students are able to design, create, innovate, and collaborate [1, 2]. In response, we investigate the claims of this statement through the research question: how is learning experienced by female students in an academic makerspace? Female students in STEM, especially those engaged in makerspaces, have unique and uncharacteristic experiences that can lend way to various learning and pedagogical implications. The purpose of this paper is to highlight our methodological process for incorporating in-depth phenomenologically based interviewing and for utilizing open and axial coding methods to establish grounded theory. We interview five female students through purposeful maximum variation sampling and snowball sampling. Through a rigorous and iterative data analysis process of the ten-percent of the overall, we created a preliminary coding scheme that articulates how learning is occurring, what design skills are being learned, and what life skills are being learned. These preliminary findings show that not only are these female students learning by doing and learning how to problem solve in design, but they are also overcoming fears, developing patience, and communicating ideas in these design-oriented makerspaces.

Design Signatures: Mapping Design Innovation Processes

Despite variances in contexts and styles of design activity, recurrent patterns emerge in design innovation approaches and processes which lend themselves to analysis and discussion. Using a Design Innovation framework [1] that is built, in part, on the UK Council’s ‘4D’ (Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver) model of design [2], we develop design signatures, graphical maps of design innovation processes. Design signature analyses of four multi-disciplinary industrial case studies illustrate the value of design signatures as useful design activity plots that can be used to plan and manage innovation teams and activities, and to identify critical features for reflection, for clarification, and for further analysis. This work is of interest to design practitioners, managers, researchers, and educators with various motivations, such as to seek a tool to convey and analyze design innovation activity.

Function Ordering Within Morphological Charts: An Experimental Study

Morphological charts are widely recognized tools in engineering design applications and research. However, a literature gap exists in instructing the representation and exploration of morphological charts. In this paper, an experiment is conducted to understand how morphological charts are explored and what impact functional arrangement has on it. The experiment consisted of two problem statements, each with five different functional arrangements: 1) Most to Least Important Function, 2) Least to Most Important Function, 3) Input to Output Function, 4) Output to Input Function, and 5) Random. Sixty-seven junior mechanical engineering students were provided a prepopulated morphological chart and asked to generate integrated design concepts. The generated concepts were analyzed to determine how frequently a given means is selected, how much of the chart is explored, what is the sequence of exploration, and finally the influence of function ordering on them. Experimental results indicate a tendency to focus more on the initial columns of the chart irrespective of functional order. Moreover, the Most-to-Least-Important functional order results in higher chances and uniformity of design space exploration.

Understanding the Importance of Capturing Climate and Occupancy Trends During Concept-Stage Sustainable Building Design

This paper presents a comparison of concept stage computational model predictions to capture how building energy consumption is affected by different climate zones. The California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) Student Housing Phase III, which received a Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the Building Design and Construction category, and its performance in a LEED California Nonresidential Title 24 (NRT24) and ASHRAE 90.1 climate zones is used as a case study to illustrate the method. Through LEED approved simulation software, the standard compliant energy simulation models are compared to the occupancy scheduled models along with the actual energy consumption in different climate zones. The results provide insight to how variables within student dormitory life affect total building energy usage. Total amount of energy consumed per area is one new factor providing understanding into occupancy trends. This new data set reveals more understanding regarding how and where the energy is consumed to maintain a comfortable learning environment.

Pulling at the Digital Thread: Exploring the Tolerance Stack Up in Scan to Print Processes

The rise of affordable rapid non-contact digitizers and rapid prototyping tools, such as 3D printers, is enabling the seamless integration of geometric reverse engineering into the early phases of engineering design. Scanning technology has been widely adopted in bio-reverse engineering and the use of high fidelity non-contact scanners, such as Computed Tomography devices, allows designers, doctors, and researchers to digitally model boney structures, design orthotic and prosthetic devices, and preemptively plan complex surgeries. While the combination of 3D scanning and printing processes holds much promise for the fields of reverse engineering, biodesign, and new product development, problems with repeatability, accuracy, and precision have limited the wider spread adoption of 3D scan to print processes. While some studies have explored the errors inherent in higher fidelity scan to print (S2P) processes, no studies have explored the errors in S2P processes that leverage affordable rapid non-contact digitizers. The purpose of this study was to explore at which phases of the S2P process errors are introduced into the digital model. A controlled study was conducted using data from 27 scans using a common off-the-shelf non-contact optical digitizer and a relatively simple workpiece. Data from the digital thread was collected between each phase of the S2P process and compared against a truth model; the geometric and dimensional integrity of the data was calculated through a comparison between the digital model and the original truth model. Results indicate significant differences between digital models at the various steps of the S2P process.

The Influence of Physical Examples on Originality and Fixation in Engineering Design

Improving creativity in engineering design continues to be a challenge. The relationship between fixation and creativity within engineering is mixed, as engineers desire to be innovative, yet are usually working from their existing knowledge to redesign existing products. In the current study, we wanted to examine the influence of physical examples on originality and fixation at the freshmen and senior level in a Mechanical Engineering program. We compared concepts for garbage collection systems generated by two groups — one provided with an example product (Example group), and another who did not receive an example product (No Example group). Using metrics established in prior publications, we found that seniors had higher levels of originality than freshmen whether an example product was received or not, reinforcing our previous findings. Fixation scores were higher for the group that did have an example. Receiving an example product was not a predictor of originality on its own, but did interact with curriculum and fixation level. Within the group that received an example product, there was a negative relationship between fixation and originality, particularly for the seniors. Within the group that did not receive an example product, there was no significant relationship between fixation and originality. Further analysis of our results are required to delineate how not receiving an example product influences design approach in freshmen and senior engineering students.

Integrative Design, Build, Test Approach for Biomedical Devices With Lattice Structures

Advances in 3D printing are enabling new rapid prototyping strategies for complex structures, such as mechanically efficient tissue scaffolds. Here, we have developed an integrated methodology with Design, Build, and Test phases to characterize beam-based lattices for bone tissue engineering. Lattices were designed with 50% and 70% porosity with beam diameters of 0.4mm to 1.0mm fabricated with polyjet printing. Build accuracy was validated with microscopy that demonstrated overall lattice dimensions were at most 0.2mm different from design and beam diameters were at most 0.15mm different. Quasi-static compression testing showed lattice elastic moduli ranged from 28MPa to 180MPa and decreased with higher lattice porosity but increased with larger beam diameter sizes. Scaffold cages for vertebral bone fusion were prototyped using 50% and 70% porous lattices with 0.8mm diameter beams with added central voids for improved nutrient transport, reinforced shells for increased mechanics, or both. Cage stiffnesses ranged from 1.7kN/mm to 7.2kN/mm and suggests the strongest cage prototypes are suitable for carrying typical spinal loads of up to 1.65kN. The study demonstrates the value in using integrated rapid prototyping approaches for characterizing complex structures and designing novel biomedical devices.

Systematic Framework to Apply Extraordinary User Perspective to Capture Latent Needs Among Ordinary Users

This study aims to provide a systematic framework to apply emulation tools that could help designers to experience an extraordinary user perspective (users with some form of physical or cognitive impairment). Past studies have supported the impact of using tools that emulate a physically restricted scenario to evoke creativity and empathy among designers. The proposed approach for Empathic Experience Design (EED) guides designers to have better leverage emulation tools to understand the latent design needs from recommended extraordinary user perspectives. The framework combines the physical parameters involved while interacting with a product with the interaction activities associated with the product. This combination is used to select empathy tools that will provide an interactive experience by eliminating those parameters. By eliminating the identified parameters, participants tend to look at the design needs from the emulated extraordinary user perspectives. The framework was tested with a pilot study in which 37 participants (20 participants for Treatment Group 1 and 17 participants for Treatment Group 2) of ages 20–26 were asked to redesign a medical syringe. The extraordinary use cases implemented in this study are visual impairment, hearing impairment, low dexterity and single hand usage. The study not only tested the recommended systematic approach, but it also showed the application of an extraordinary user perspective to understand the general latent needs associated with medical devices that are less likely to be used by extraordinary users. The results are promising evidence that a simple systematic approach to implement empathic design tools could have a higher impact than an unguided instinct based approach to choose the tools. The results also show that, when applied efficiently, the approach could capture a wide variety of latent needs from potential extraordinary user perspectives’.