Development Of Design Tools Research Articles

Service design method for both non-human and human actors: What kinds of jobs should be assigned to service robots?

A variety of healthcare robots for elderly care have been developed. However, as the elderly and caregivers experience psychological resistance towards not only new technologies but specifically to robots, the adoption of healthcare robots has scarcely progressed. This article aims to develop a service design method, which consists of a design process including design tools to identify jobs in an elderly care facility and to reveal what kinds of jobs to assign to service robots and to caregivers. This article develops a design method which is composed of six steps and adopts original design tools to identify jobs needed in elderly care facilities and assign them to human and non-human actors, including service robots. The tools include an actor map to visualize the Actor to Actor (A2A) network, a current jobs to be done (JTBD) worksheet to visualize existing jobs, a new JTBD worksheet to visualize new jobs, and an actor worksheet to summarize information about each actor including their philosophy. With this design method, we conducted a series of workshops with the aim to develop a service fulfilled by humans and non-humans at an elderly care facility in Shizuoka prefecture in Japan. The results of questionnaires administered to the workshop participants demonstrated the effectiveness of all the tools except the new JTBD worksheet. Also, the results of interviews with employees in the elderly care facility indicated the effectiveness of the approach, which reveals visible and invisible regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive elements through interviews with human actors, and embeds them in the service design process. The design method including the original design tools proposed in this article contribute to a service design method for the use of robots in elderly care facilities by allocating jobs to human actors and non-human actors appropriately, and it also contributes to the issue of psychological resistance to the adoption of service robots in these facilities, which brings efficiencies to society. The contribution of this article is to reframe the issue of resistance to the adoption of service robots in elderly care facilities to the issue of what kinds of jobs in an elderly care facility should be assigned to service robots or caregivers, and the development of a service design process including original design tools.

Polymer nanodielectrics—Short history and future perspective

This article provides a perspective on the development of polymer nanodielectrics for electrical insulation applications. It includes a short history of the development of the field, barriers to implementation, a chemical toolbox available for optimizing properties, some examples of potential commercial development, and the latest advances. It offers opinions on critical research needed to fully develop the models needed to predict the behavior and to develop design tools. Key findings include the need for quantification of nanofiller dispersion, investment in long term aging data research, better scale-up methods, a data resource that brings the broad data together in a format that enables faster scientific discovery, and a commercial entity willing to take the risk in implementing these promising materials.

Bimodulus bending model for bamboo poles

The building industry is currently under pressure to transit from non-renewable materials with high embodied energy towards natural and sustainable options. Bamboo poles are some of the most promising renewable structural elements, but their formal utilisation in construction requires the development of appropriate analytical models and new design tools to address their challenging natural and organic nature. Considering the composite nature of bamboo poles and the properties of their high-strength sclerenchyma fibres and parenchyma matrix, this paper presents the formulation of an analytical bimodulus model to determine the cross-sectional strain and stress distribution in bamboo poles in bending. This model was validated through full-scale experimental four-point bending tests on Moso (Phyllostachys pubescens) bamboo poles suggesting a constant tensile elastic modulus of fibres for this species.

A detailed review on [formula omitted] two-phase ejector flow modeling

Ejector-equipped vapor-compression systems for refrigeration and cooling, relying solely on CO2 (R744) as a natural working fluid, are perceived to be an eco-friendly and highly efficient solution for many applications. However, the complexity of two-phase ejector flows makes it very challenging to find realiable and efficient ejector designs. Improved design methods are necessary in order to achieve higher performance in R744 units compared to the traditional compressor-based systems with refrigerants that put a high strain on the environment. Consequently, the development of advanced models and tools for an accurate design of the R744 ejectors has been a highly prioritized research topic. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current status of R744 ejector models and their limitations has not been thoroughly evaluated yet. To summarise the current state of the art and knowledge gaps, this work presents an exhaustive overview of the available numerical models applied to R744 two-phase ejectors, i.e. multiphase flow modeling, turbulence aspects, numerical solution methods, applications of models, to further encourage the adoption of R744 vapor-compression solutions. Finally, a thorough discussion of different focus points for future research as well as the main challenges in the field is presented.

Development of computational design tools for characterising and modelling cutting in ultra soft solids

Computational modelling of the in vivo mechanical response of various biological materials within the human organism, such as brain tissue, bone, arteries, ingested food, is an increasingly cost-effective design tool for bio-medical, bio-engineering and surgical applications. This study addresses the knowledge gap in simulating deformation-fracture during cutting in continua that lie in the transition between a soft solid and a complex fluid state. Hydrated food is one such system produced naturally after swallowing. We show that a viscoplastic-damage constitutive law calibrated through compression tests on hydrated biscuit particles, can be utilised in Eulerian Finite Element (FE) analysis to predict complex localised deformation-fracture material behaviour during cutting at two length scales with high fidelity. We demonstrate that in such materials a fracture term is not always necessary to predict ultimate separation and that the Eulerian FE analysis is a versatile approach based on which largely different material cutting behaviours can be modelled. Our study provides a platform for understanding and optimising processes involving ultra-soft materials which flow excessively and exhibit weak or strong cutting resistance.

Ontological Descriptions for Integrating Design Information of Product-Service Systems

Product-service systems (PSS), which create value by integrating physical products and services, have received much attention as a promising option to increase manufacturers’ revenue and reduce environmental impact. The process of designing a PSS requires collaboration among various experts who use domain-specific knowledge. Therefore, several researches have been investigated for developing design tools tailored to their expertise. However, while the specialization of design tools can be useful for experts, it hinders companies from ensuring the integrity of design information in different design elements. This results in the failure in achieving expected benefits. To address these issues, this study applies the concept of interoperability to PSS design to integrate design information from different domains. In particular, ontological descriptions is adopted to achieve semantic interoperability in different design elements. The application of the proposed ontology to a lecture on PSS design highlights that the proposed method is effective for integrating information on PSS design elements and those between value creation and capture.

Evaluating pedestrian perceptions of street design with a 3D stated preference survey

In many places, streets are still primarily designed for the convenience of motorists, considering mobility function as the principal design goal. There is a scarcity of empirical evidence on the relationship between the design of a street and how it is experienced by pedestrians who use it. This work focuses on quantifying pedestrians’ perception of walkability through a stated preference survey using a dynamic 3D representation of various street designs in Toronto, Canada. The stated preference scenarios are generated through a rule-based 3D environment (Esri’s CityEngine) and animated using a gaming engine (Unity). A random sample of 600 Torontonians is used for the empirical investigation by estimating a mixed multinomial logit model. The results indicate that there is a high preference for (i) streets that include transit lanes as opposed to car-exclusive lanes, (ii) the presence of trees on the sidewalk, and (iii) two-way cycle paths on the curb lane. Furthermore, pedestrians are willing to trade sidewalk width for the presence of trees and outdoor dining. The survey’s innovative presentation mode and its findings can contribute to the development of much-needed evidence-based design tools to assess the trade-offs required between the many possible uses of roadway space, while focusing on the overlooked role of the pedestrian experience.

Modeling and assessing BIPV envelopes using parametric Rhinoceros plugins Grasshopper and Ladybug

Abstract Dissemination of building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems shall benefit from the education of professional architects and students, currently used to Building Information Modeling (BIM) environment, which includes design tools that may allow integrating solar energy generation in the building’s early design phases. This paper presents a feasibility study using Rhinoceros CAD software and plugins Grasshopper and Ladybug to assess BIPV envelopes intended to retrofit 7 institutional office buildings in Brasilia, Brazil. The method considers measured data of end-use energy consumption (yearly average 155.31 kWh/m2), building morphology and central urban environment characterization. Results for retrofitting facades and roofs with BIPV solutions for existing institutional office buildings are presented, both from an energetic and an architectural point of view. The evaluation of the results singles out aspects to be improved in the development of future design tools and highlights the importance of the integration between CAD 3D modeling software and the simulation tools for BIPV systems.

Forms of stimuli and their effects on idea generation in terms of creativity metrics and non-obviousness

ABSTRACT Idea generation is acknowledged to benefit from intentionally administered stimuli or designers’ processes that include the search for external sources of inspiration. Text-based and graphic forms of stimuli are the most leveraged in design literature, but it has not been yet demonstrated which form is most effective for boosting creativity. This is due to the fact that previous studies have employed many varying conditions which do not allow for comparisons to be made. The present paper presents an experiment in which three groups of 27 participants were asked to generate new ideas for new-borns’ outfits. To perform the task, the participants first considered five stimuli presented to them in one of the forms depending on which group the participants had been assigned to, i.e. textual, pictorial or combined (juxtaposition of the two). The stimuli were intended to share the semantic content, thus limiting potential bias due to different meanings. The outcomes of the experiment were evaluated in terms of creativity and non-obviousness. The presence of a pictorial dimension resulted in a significant increase in terms of rarity and non-obviousness of ideas, but did not affect quality, originality or quantity. The limited overlap among ideas emerging from the three forms suggests the potential value of developing design tools for idea generation that mix multiple forms of stimuli.

Invertible Paradoxic Loop Structures for Transformable Design

AbstractWe present an interactive tool compatible with existing software (Rhino/Grasshopper) to design ring structures with a paradoxic mobility, which are self‐collision‐free over the complete motion cycle. Our computational approach allows non‐expert users to create these invertible paradoxic loops with six rotational joints by providing several interactions that facilitate design exploration. In a first step, a rational cubic motion is shaped either by means of a four pose interpolation procedure or a motion evolution algorithm. By using the representation of spatial displacements in terms of dual‐quaternions, the associated motion polynomial of the resulting motion can be factored in several ways, each corresponding to a composition of three rotations. By combining two suitable factorizations, an arrangement of six rotary axes is achieved, which possesses a 1‐parametric mobility. In the next step, these axes are connected by links in a way that the resulting linkage is collision‐free over the complete motion cycle. Based on an algorithmic solution for this problem, collision‐free design spaces of the individual links are generated in a post‐processing step. The functionality of the developed design tool is demonstrated in the context of an architectural and artistic application studied in a master‐level studio course. Two results of the performed design experiments were fabricated by the use of computer‐controlled machines to achieve the necessary accuracy ensuring the mobility of the models.

Multi-Agent-Based Urban Vegetation Design.

Urban vegetation is an essential element of the urban city pedestrian walkway. Despite city forest regulations and urban planning best practices, vegetation planning lacks clear comprehension and compatibility with other urban elements surrounding it. Urban planners and academic researchers currently devote vital attention to include most of the urban elements and their impact on the occupants and the environment in the planning stage of urban development. With the advancement in computational design, they have developed various algorithms to generate design alternatives and measure their impact on the environment that meets occupants’ needs and perceptions of their city. In particular, multi-agent-based simulations show great promise in developing rule compliance with urban vegetation design tools. This paper proposed an automatic urban vegetation city rule compliance approach for pedestrian pathway vegetation, leveraging multi-agent system and algorithmic modeling tools. This approach comprises three modules: rule compliance (T-Rule), street vegetation design tool (T-Design), and multi-agent alternative generation (T-Agent). Notably, the scope of the paper is limited to trees, shrubbery, and seating area configurations in the urban pathway context. To validate the developed design tool, a case study was tested, and the vegetation design tool generated the expected results successfully. A questionnaire was conducted to give feedback on the use of the developed tool for enhancing positive experience of the developed tool. It is anticipated that the proposed tool has the potential to aid urban planners in decision-making and develop more practical vegetation planting plans compared with the conventional Two-Dimensional (2D) plans, and give the city occupants the chance to take part in shaping their city by merely selecting from predefined parameters in a user interface to generate their neighborhood pathway vegetation plans. Moreover, this approach can be extended to be embedded in an interactive map where city occupants can shape their neighborhood greenery and give feedback to urban planners for decision-making.

Development of User Interface Design Tool and Training Kit for Standalone Photovoltaic System

Development of User Interface Design Tool and Training Kit for Standalone Photovoltaic System

Formation of Tactical Urbanism by Means of Street Art as the Design-Method

The authors of the article reveal the concept of street art from the position of tactical urbanism. In the context of this study, the main characteristics of the tactical urbanism of urban space are identified, as well as the possibilities of street art within the framework of this modern trend of changing the environment of the city in accordance with the needs of its inhabitants. The purpose of this article is to justify street art as a design method in the composition of the means of tactical urbanism and its application in the conversion of urban space. The authors applied the following scientific research methods: a historical analysis of the emergence and development of street art as an artistic structure of urban objects; the method of colour analysis of street art as a design element of the tactical urban structure of urban space; empirical method of studying tactical urbanism by observation, surveys of residents, a full-scale survey of the city. The applied significance of the study lies in the development of design tools for harmonizing the space of an urbanized environment based on colour modelling using the means of street art as an element in the structure of tactical urbanism methods.

Data-driven product design toward intelligent manufacturing: A review

With the arrival of the big data era, a lot of valuable data have been generated in the entire product life cycle. The gathered product data contain a lot of design knowledge, which brings new opportunities to enhance the production efficiency and product competitiveness. Data-driven product design is an effective and popular design method, which can provide sufficient support for designers to make smart decisions. This article focuses on a comprehensive review of the existing research in data-driven product design. Based on the product design process, this article summarizes the data-driven design methods into the following aspects: customer requirement analysis, conceptual design, detailed design, and design knowledge support tools. In the customer requirement analysis stage, through data mining and transformation methods, customer requirements are predicted and then mapped to obtain accurate requirement expressions for aiding designers to explore the design space. In the conceptual design stage, the intelligent algorithms and data warehouse technologies are discussed in detail for function reasoning and scheme decision-making to achieve the iterative mapping from customer space to solution space. In the detailed design stage, data modeling languages and methods are introduced to support the simulation verification of the design process. For the design knowledge support tools, the methods of extracting knowledge from product data are discussed in detail, and the realization of computer-aided conceptual design is assisted through the development of knowledge-oriented design tools. Finally, this article summarizes the key points of data-driven product design research and provides an outlook for future research directions.

Simulation of Controlled Motion of a Person When Walking in an Exoskeleton

Purpose of reseach. Robot exoskeletons open up new possibilities in the rehabilitation of patients with lower limb injuries. Despite the growing number of publications on this topic, many issues related to the development of design tools based on the simulation of human movement in an exoskeleton using the theoretical basis of stable movement in the upright position have not been studied well enough. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop methods for improving the efficiency of the lower extremity exoskeleton control system for biped gait. Methods. The key feature of the paper is the application of modeling techniques determining the laws of the exoskeleton motion. Methods of mathematical modeling of the motion of sections are used, taking into account their subsequent possible use in modeling the motion of exoskeleton sections; trajectory equations are composed using the vector-matrix method. The trajectories of the exoskeleton's foot, lower leg, and hip movement during steady walking are studied.Results. To simulate the operation of a robotic complex - a prototype of an exoskeleton of the lower extremities with ten active degrees of freedom, kinematic definition the trajectory of the sections is used. To find the vector of generalized coordinates, the inverse kinematics problem is solved applying the vector-matrix method using the Jacobian matrix. The results of numerical simulation show high convergence and eficacy of the proposed method. The proposed method allows defining the trajectory of the operator in the exoskeleton in real devices.Conclusion. In the paper, the study of walking is performed from the standpoint of modeling a quasi-static gait using kinematic approaches. The developed method for determining the defining angles of rotation of the exoskeleton sections for different foot positions taking into account the position of the mass center projections, is used in the development of algorithms for controlling human motion in the exoskeleton.

Optimal design criteria for form-finding of double-curved surfaces

The development of new digital design tools and fabrication technologies stimulated a large research interest in the design and construction of free-form architecture. Free-form architecture indicates the symbolic act of freeing architecture from the limitations of pure form. During the form-finding process, the priority is on identifying the geometry that enables the optimum force flow within the structure.This study focuses on the problem of the form-finding problem of concrete double-curved surfaces. First, a suitable form-finding optimization framework to optimize shell surfaces based on the surface Stress Density method is established. This framework is based on the use of different software such as Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, and Matlab. The stress density method is chosen because it allows obtaining an optimized shape starting by few parameters: the geometric characteristics of the model, the surface density factor and the magnitude of the load. In a second step, the study is focused on a single panel of the structure. Structural analyses of this panel are carried out using the commercial finite element software SAP2000 to demonstrate that it is a shape resistant structure. Finally, a new production process for concrete double-curved surfaces is presented showing a prototype at a small scale. This process is trying to satisfy the needs of new shapes within architectural design. The proposed solution is the improvement of an existing flexible mould formwork technology and represents the first attempt to reach a reusable, reconfigurable and affordable procedure.

A development of strategic design tool for open business model

The market circumstances around the manufacturing companies have changed due to several factors, including globalization, commoditization, and advanced innovation. This condition triggers the manufacturing companies to reconsider the competitive advantage of their value propositions and to promote their change not only their product but their closed business models. In regard to these circumstances, Open Business Model (OBM) is attracting attention as a new concept that replaces the closed business model which depends on the company’s own resources. OBM is a business model realized by sharing resources and collaborating with external partners. If the companies can transform their business model to OBM, they can receive several benefits such as long-term profits through providing new customer value, diversifying risks due to uncertainty in the market environment, and shortening the development period for products and services. Responding to this expectation to OBM, many researchers make a study related to this concept. However, existing research on OBM is limited to its advantages and comparison with similar concepts. Thus, it is difficult to design OBM in actual design activities. For this background, this study aims to support OBM design with high openness and proposes a design tool composed of the design templates and the procedure to use them. A proposed tool was applied to the OBM design workshop, and the application result confirmed usefulness and direction for improvement of this tool.

The use of eigenstrain theory and fuzzy techniques for intelligent modeling of residual stress and creep relaxation in welded superalloys

Ni-base superalloys are used in a wide range of applications where components made from these alloys are exposed to extreme conditions of high temperature and high pressure, and dependable performance is critical for mission success, the safety of human lives, and multi-million commercial investment. To ensure robustness and reliability of highly demanding engineering solutions, it is crucial to advance the development of cutting-edge computational design tools based on artificial intelligence and fuzzy techniques, combined with the application of materials characterization and materials design. In the present study, the use of the contour method in combination with eigenstrain theory provided new insights into 3D residual stress states in Ni-base superalloy samples. As-welded and heat-treated specimens were made using bead-on-plate design to investigate the effect of complex fabrication conditions on welds process in large components. The widely used relief of residual stresses during post-weld heat treatment was simulated using eigenstrain-creep model. Furthermore, artificial intelligence (AI) based eigenstrain-contour and eigenstrain-creep models, that use fuzzy techniques, were developed by the present authors for materials used in advanced ultra-supercritical coal-powered plants, showing good match with experiments. The present study reports the combination of eigenstrain theory with artificial intelligence for the modelling of welding residual stresses and simulation of post-weld heat treatment process and highlights the benefits of AI-based eigenstrain-contour and eigenstrain-creep methods on the development of robust and reliable aeroengine components.

The use of computational fluid dynamic technique in ship control design

ABSTRACT This paper presents a methodology to develop the control systems of a surface vessel by using both computational fluid dynamics techniques and model-based control design. The model-based control design is supported by a simulation platform where both the ship hydrodynamics and the propulsion plant are modelled together. The application of CFD is related to the direct evaluation of the hull forces in the ship hydrodynamic model, for different manoeuvring conditions. The developed design tool is essential in the preliminary design phase, as a benchmark to test the control algorithms for autonomous ships. The comparison between numerical assessment and regression-based formulae has been performed on non-standard manoeuvres to quantify the difference in thrust allocation from the point of view of control design. Eventually, to validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, the results of the sea trials for different manoeuvres are shown.

Experimental measurement for non-spherical bulk materials flow behaviour in rectangular enclosure

Dust control is a major concern in food industries since dust emission is generally unavoidable during bulk material handling. Obtaining a better understanding of the way particles are pulled away from a stream of particles and the generation of a dust cloud will assist in the design of more efficient dust control systems. In this paper, the particles- air interactions during free fall of bulk powder is reviewed. An experimental investigation was performed to elucidate the effect of conveying velocity and particle properties on velocity profiles. The Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) technique was employed to measure the particle velocity during free fall. Results revealed that the particle properties (particles with flaky shapes and lower bulk density) had a great influence on dust cloud generation as compared to the conveying velocity. The results presented here may facilitate the development of a quantitative tools for dust control system design that deal with a falling stream of bulk powder.