Damien Motte

A web-based interactive virtual environment for mobile phone customization

With globalization, more and more companies are becoming multisited. Efficient and timely collaboration and communication among the development team members become critical for product success. This paper proposes a web-based virtual environment for mobile phone customization, named VMPDS (Virtual Mobile Phone Design Space). The features of this system include the combination of web technology and VR (Virtual Reality) technology, the ability to deal with and extend the product model database, adequate interaction for three-dimensional product model customization, and usefulness for the examination and evaluation of product concept design. The system is implemented by using standard open technologies to assure accessibility and platform independence.

A Computer-Based Design System For Lightweight Grippers in The Automotive Industry

This paper presents the development as well as the architecture of a computer-Aided dedicated fixture design system intended to support the design of lightweight (carbon fiber composite) grippers f ...

Complex product form generation in industrial design: A bookshelf based on Voronoi diagrams

Complex product form generation methods have rarely been used within the field of industrial design. The difficulty in their use is mainly linked to constraints – such as functionality, production and cost – that apply to most products. By coupling a mathematically described morphology to an optimisation system, it may be possible to generate a complex product form, compliant with engineering and production constraints. In this paper we apply this general approach to the designing of a bookshelf whose structure is based on Voronoi diagrams. The algorithm behind the developed application used here is based on a prior work submitted elsewhere [1], adapted to the bookshelf problem. This second example of product form generation, which includes specific constraints, confirms the relevance of the general approach.

Development of a web-based customer-oriented interactive virtual environment for mobile phone design

During recent years, mobile phone companies have experienced market-related difficulties that result in increasing competition globally. In an attempt to maintain or increase their market share, enterprises reorganize their resources and employ new technologies to sharpen their competitive edges. Moreover, with the globalization, more and more companies become multi-sited. Efficient and timely collaboration and communication among the Development team members become critical for product success. This paper proposes a web-based interactive virtual environment for mobile phone design, named VMPDS (Virtual Mobile Phone Design Space). The features of the system include the combination of web technology and VR (Virtual Reality) technology, the ability to deal with and extend the product model database, adequate interaction for 3-D product model modification and customization, and usefulness for the examination and evaluation of product concept design. The system is implemented by using standard open technologies such as VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language), Java, SAI (Script Authoring Interface) and EAI (External Authoring Interface) to assure accessibility and platformindependence.

An Approach to Constraint-Based and Mass-Customizable Product Design

In traditional product development, several iterations are usually necessary to obtain a successful compromise between constraints emanating from engineering, manufacturing, and aesthetics. Moreover, this approach to product development is not well suited for true mass-customization, as the manufacturing company remains in control of all aspects of the shape of the product-to-be. In this article, we propose an alternative approach that would (1) allow for an improved integration of industrial design into the product development process and (2) enhance the creative repertoire of industrial designers, which (3) would result in significantly improved prospects for mass-customization. The industrial design process may benefit from using advanced and aesthetically interesting morphologies emanating from the areas of mathematics and nature. Such complex morphologies can only be manipulated (analyzed and represented) by means of specific algorithms. On one hand, this requires a shift from established industrial design practice, where the industrial designer is in total control of the product form; on the other hand, it makes it fully possible to compute form so that it complies with engineering and manufacturing constraints. In this setup, the industrial designer still has control of the final result, in that she or he can choose from a set of valid forms. This approach would greatly reduce the number of iterations in the product development process between industrial design, engineering, and production. Naturally, such an approach also allows for advanced masscustomization by allowing consumers to use these tools. Within this approach, a table generation system has been developed: A system that generates tables whose support structure is based on a Voronoi diagram that fulfills structural and manufacturing constraints while being aesthetically appealing.

Study of the sequential constraint-handling technique for evolutionary optimization with application to structural problems

Engineering design problems are most frequently charac-terized by constraints that make them hard to solve and time-consuming. When evolutionary algorithms are used to solve these problems, constraints are often handled with the generic weighted sum method or with techniques specific to the prob-lem at hand. Most commonly, all constraints are evaluated at each generation, and it is also necessary to fine-tune different parameters in order to receive good results, which requires in-depth knowledge of the algorithm. The sequential constraint-handling techniques seem to be a promising alternative, be-cause they do not require all constraints to be evaluated at each iteration and they are easy to implement. They neverthe-less require the user to determine the ordering in which those constraints shall be evaluated. Therefore two heuristics that allow finding a satisfying constraint sequence have been developed. Two sequential constraint-handling techniques using the heuristics have been tested against the weighted sum technique with the ten-bar structure benchmark. They both performed better than the weighted sum technique and can therefore be easy to implement, and powerful alternatives for solving engineering design problems.

Study of alternative strategies to the task clarification activity of the market-pull product development process model

A very large majority of the current product development process models put forward in textbooks present a homogenous structure, what Ulrich & Eppinger [1] call the market-pull model, presented as a generic one, while other possible product development process models are merely seen as variants. This paper focuses on the task clarification and derived activities (mainly the systematic search for customer needs through market study and the supplementary development costs it entails) and investigates two alternative strategies that are not derived from the generic process model. The first alternative is the market-pull model without an extensive task clarification. The second is the application of the so-called expeditionary marketing strategy. With the help of simplified analytic modeling, the conditions for which these alternatives are as efficient as the generic process model are discussed. This advocates the development of more flexible process models. [1] Ulrich, K. T. and Eppinger, S. D., 2008, Product Design and Development, 4th Edition, McGraw-Hill, London.

A method for supporting the integration of packaging development into product development

This paper aims to support the decision-making tasks regarding the integration of packaging development into product development. Based on the study of the interactions of the product and packaging during the whole product life cycle, a set of packaging-related factors was extracted and mapped to a general product development model, which at a strategic level can be used to define an integrated product development policy. At a tactical level, the mapping matrices are used to support the product development projects planning. At an operational level, they can be used to make packaging-related decisions during an ongoing product development project.

A study of the mechanical design engineer's strategies and tactics during the later phases of the engineering design process

This paper presents the results of an explorative study on the strategies and tactics applied by the mechanical designer during the later phases of the design process. The method chosen for this study is experiment-based, which is appropriate for an in-depth examination of the designers activities. Six experiments have been run based on three dimensions: 1) the carrying out of basic design tasks consisting of the designers strategies and tactics; 2) use of rules, principles and guidelines; and 3) consideration of additional factors. The analysis of the experiments is based on the verbal protocol analysis method. Although the designers individually showed different approaches, the strategies adopted by the experts presented a similar pattern. Some powerful tactics but also some weaknesses have been identified: the experts reasoned very early in the process in terms of concrete parts and components and thus rapidly solved interface problems; on the other hand, the evaluation and check activities were often considered as secondary. (Less)

Constraint-handling techniques for generative product design systems in the mass customization context

Abstract Generative product design systems used in the context of mass customization are required to generate diverse solutions quickly and reliably without necessitating modification or tuning during use. When such systems are employed to allow for the mass customization of product form, they must be able to handle mass production and engineering constraints that can be time-consuming to evaluate and difficult to fulfill. These issues are related to how the constraints are handled in the generative design system. This article evaluates two promising sequential constraint-handling techniques and the often used weighted sum technique with regard to convergence time, convergence rate, and diversity of the design solutions. The application used for this purpose was a design system aimed at generating a table with an advanced form: a Voronoi diagram based structure. The design problem was constrained in terms of production as well as stability, requiring a time-consuming finite element evaluation. Regarding convergence time and rate, one of the sequential constraint-handling techniques performed significantly better than the weighted sum technique. Nevertheless, the weighted sum technique presented respectable results and therefore remains a relevant technique. Regarding diversity, none of the techniques could generate diverse solutions in a single search run. In contrast, the solutions from different searches were always diverse. Solution diversity is thus gained at the cost of more runs, but no evaluation of the diversity of the solutions is needed. This result is important, because a diversity evaluation function would otherwise have to be developed for every new type of design. Efficient handling of complex constraints is an important step toward mass customization of nontrivial product forms.