Interdisciplinary Design Teams Research Articles

KOMPASS: a method for complementary function allocation in automated work systems

A method supporting complementary function allocation in automated work systems called KOMPASS will be presented. KOMPASS supports interdisciplinary design teams in deciding about function allocation in automated systems, taking into account the need for an integral consideration of people-related, technological and organizational factors in the design of work systems in order to satisfy the demands for effectiveness and safety of the overall work system as well as for motivating jobs for the human operators. A set of empirically tested criteria for the evaluation of the complementarity of system design forms the basis of guidelines for the analysis of work systems, individual tasks and human–machine systems as well as for a heuristic for system design. The method is described, including a practical example of an automation project to which it was applied.

Industry demands on vehicle development - methods and tools

SUMMARYA very important goal of mechatronics in system development is the integration of mechanical, electronic and software subsystems in order to increase functionality, minimise weight, and reduce production costs. In this work, industry demands on methods and tools for mechatronic vehicle development are addressed from the current product development in industry. The development of a mechatronic car door concept and dynamic stability control are used as examples to identify strong and weak parts of the current processes. Railway vehicle development aspects are also discussed. It is shown that a very important aspect for a successful mechatronic design is co-operation in an interdisciplinary design team. In terms of design methodology, the systematic identification of mechatronic potential based on function analysis is a main issue. Computer tools and technology for concept simulation, co-simulation, managing of models with different complexity as well as model exchange are identified as important demands for future effective development of mechatronic vehicles.

Devices for assisting manipulation: a summary of user task priorities

Currently, none of the commercially available rehabilitation robots are widely distributed among individuals with limited use of their arms and hands. Market success requires design that achieves an acceptable tradeoff between function, appearance, ease of use, reliability, and cost. User defined task priorities are an imperative consideration within the design as devices which fail a user's functionality requirement will never succeed in the market place. Consequently, this article reviews nine different task priority surveys conducted by seven institutions across England and North America which reflect the views of over 200 potential users of such technology. They include predevelopment questionnaires that focus on user task ability and anticipated use of an orthosis or rehabilitation robot, and postdevelopment surveys that investigate task functionality with a specific robot. The survey results indicate that a device must accommodate a wide range of object manipulation tasks in a variety of unstructured environments. Specific tasks which rated highly were picking things up from the floor or off a shelf and tasks associated with eating, personal hygiene, and leisure activities. The range of functional tasks implies that interdisciplinary design teams are required for successful rehabilitation robotic and orthotic device design. >

A communications-based technique for interdisciplinary design team management

A technique for interdisciplinary design team management that focuses on information processing and communication between team members is presented. A cognitive model of communication-related failure mechanisms of design groups is developed. Strategies for defining and assigning subtasks among individuals or subgroups that are based on the communications model are described. A technique for evaluating the expected effectiveness of a design team configuration is also presented. The cognitive model and task definition and assignment strategies are integrated into a tool which is traditionally used to evaluate only the physical design artifact itself, failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA). By determining communication failure mechanisms and how they can affect the design artifact, the authors are able to develop strategies that minimize their impact and an analytic tool to determine design team effectiveness. An illustrative application to the problem of designing a program for computer-assisted instruction is presented. >

Interaction on Ward 8: Physical Settings and Behavioral Change

A process of participatory design–in which users of the ward environment, staff and patients, influenced the outcome–was initiated on Ward 8 at Cleveland State Hospital, an old Kirkbride-modeled mental hospital where several experimental ward environments were created by ARC (Architecture-Research-Construction), an interdisciplinary team of designers and social scientists who researched, designed, built, evaluated and documented the new ward settings. At the end of that process, interaction–one observable category of ward activity–was more than doubled among a group of 22 long-institutionalized patients over a 16-month period, as observed and measured by “behavioral mapping,” a technique for studying influences of immediate environments on the behavior of groups.

The Human Environment Design Misfit Factor Concept: (A Methodology For Defining The Problems and Developing Solutions For Complex Human Environment Systems)

The Human Environment Design Misfit Factor Concept is a technique which can be used to creatively design and detail a problem statement and present it in a workbook format that verbally and visually communicates the significant problem areas in total context. This workbook can serve as an information tool for all members of an interdisciplinary design team whose efforts would have a significant effect on the human environment design solution. This tool also serves as a measuring device for comparing the effectiveness of alternative human environment design solutions. The problem statement can be designed to emphasize safety, efficiency, comfort, aesthetic appeal or a good balance of all of these factors. It is described here in a particular application for the development of a dual operator console design for the Navy. However, it can be tailored to the particular requirements of any complex human environment design project.This technique was not developed as a substitute for the traditional human engineering techniques such as operational sequence diagrams, task analysis studies and other more scientific human factors activities. The Misfit Factor concept was designed primarily as a technique that will effectively cope with the more qualitative and subjective aspects of human environment design. It is the author's belief that this concept will provide a more creative role for the Industrial Designer in his support of the human engineering functions related to complex human environment design problems.

Preliminary Design of a Tornado Probe

An interdisciplinary design team at Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind., is developing a system for probing tornadoes. The objective of the program is to obtain horizontal profiles of temperature, pressure, wind velocity, and magnetic field in and around a vortex. The present plan for achieving these objectives includes an aircraft to search for tornadoes on tornado days. Upon sighting a the aircraft will fire a 2.75-inch rocket into the vortex. This 2.75-inch rocket will be outfitted both with instrumentation for measuring pressure, temperature, magnetic field, and wind velocity and with a telemetry system for relaying data back to the launch aircraft. The launch aircraft will contain equipment for recording the telemetry information, and photographic equipment will be used to make indirect measurements.