This thesis aims to explain how the concepts of functional modeling are implemented in the development and validation of real-world hybrid dynamic systems. I also discuss how control theory is integrated with the design process in order to understand the significance of periodic orbits on a simple dynamic system. Two hybrid system applications with different levels of complexity will be considered in this thesis – an anthropomorphic Bipedal walking robot and a Double Pendulum with a mechanical stop. The primary objectives of this project are to demonstrate the phenomena of Zeno and zeno periodic orbits in hybrid dynamic systems involving impacts. Initially, I describe the salient features of the product design procedure and then explain the significance of functional modeling as a part of this process. We then discuss hybrid dynamic systems and the occurrence of Zeno behavior in their mathematical form. Also, the necessary conditions for existence of Zeno and zeno equilibrium points are provided. Then the theory of completed Lagrangian hybrid systems is explained in detail. We then examine the two hybrid dynamic systems being considered for this project. Prior research undertaken on bipedal walking is explored to understand their design and achievement of stable walking gaits with appropriate actuation mechanisms. Based on this insight, a suitable design procedure is employed to develop the bipedal robot model. The desired actuation mechanisms for all the configurations considered for this model as well as the challenges faced in employing optimal actuation will be discussed. However, due to the high level of complexity of the bipedal robot model, a simpler hybrid dynamic system is considered to simplify fabrication and control of the model. This is the motivation behind designing and building the Double Pendulum model with a mechanical stop in an attempt to observe zeno behavior in this system. We begin by formally demonstrating that the “constrained” double pendulum model displays Zeno behavior and complete this Zeno hybrid system to allow for solutions to be carried past the Zeno point. The end result is periods of unconstrained and constrained motions in the pendulum, with transitions to the constrained motion occurring at the Zeno point. We then consider the development of a real physical pendulum with a mechanical stop and introduce non-plastic impacts. Later, we verify through experimentation that Zeno behavior provides an accurate description of the behavior of the physical system. This provides evidence to substantiate the claim that Zeno behavior, while it does not technically occur in reality, provides an accurate method for predicting the behavior of systems undergoing impacts and that the theory developed to understand Zeno behavior can be applied to better understand these systems.

This study investigates the concept of adaptivity in relation to the evolution of software and hence software embedded products. Whilst laying out the benefits of adaptivity in products, it discusses the potential future threats engendered by the actual change observed in the functionality principles of adaptive products. The discussion is based upon cybernetic theory which defines control technology in the 20th century anew. Accordingly, literature survey on cybernetic theory, evolution of software from conventional to adaptive structure is presented. The changes in the functionality principles of adaptive systems and the similarities that these changes show with living autonomous systems is also investigated. The roles of product and user are redefined in relation to changing control mechanisms. Then, the new direction that the conventional product-user relationship has taken with adaptive products is examined. Finally, the potential future threats this new direction might bring is discussed with the help of two control conflict situations.

This is an attempt to analyze the evaluation criteria of tactual qualities on handheld product experiences by users. The study was conducted with the users selected from different work groups and different ages for exploring the meanings which are attributed to these tactual qualities by them. The thesis is expected to shed a light in the design studies by designers. After identifying the products and the participants, the tactual experiences were analyzed throughout the study to find out the keywords which are used to describe the tactual qualities through the experience. The evaluation criteria and the relationships between these criteria are expected to use as guidance. The guidance of these keywords, the approaches of the users to the tactual qualities tried to be clarified in order to acquire data for the design processes. The results showed that the tactual qualities are qualities which are mentioned by the participants. This means that the participants are aware of the tactual qualities. On the other hand, it was seen that expressing the emotional effects of the tactual qualities with words is hard for users. However, expressing the emotional effects is hard for users / some relations between the tactual qualities and between other qualities are conducted.

Product quality is regarded as one of the most important factors that consumers consider while purchasing products. However, contrary to objective quality, perceived product quality includes consumer&#039 / s judgment about the overall superiority or excellence of a product. This study mainly concentrates on the relationship between product appearance and perceived product quality especially for durable goods. The definitions of product quality and perceived product quality are reviewed to explain different dimensions of perceived product quality. Product appearance and the importance of product appearance are explained to reveal the relationship between the consumer and the appearance of the product. Four types of information communicated through the appearance are revealed: aesthetic information, symbolic information, functional information and ergonomic information. In the field study, how these four types of information communicated by the product appearance influence the consumers&rsquo / quality perception is questioned through a quantitative study. Conducted with 100 participants, the results of the questionnaire shows that the appearance influences quality perception in various stages of consumer/product context for durable goods. At the end of the study, it is observed that aesthetic, functional and ergonomic information directly influence consumer&rsquo / s quality perception / wheras, the influence of symbolic information on the perceived quality is found to be limited and indirect.

Users evaluate and assign value to products regarding several factors, one of which is design attributes. The attributes can provide certain consequences, which can, in turn, serve to users&rsquo / desires or ultimate goals in life. Value is attributed regarding the desirability of the sequential chain of attributes, consequences and goals. Considering value creation for the users as designers&rsquo / main responsibility / they should focus on how these chains are shaped while designing products. This study mainly concentrates on this relation between design attributes, the consequences these attributes provide, and the ultimate goals of users these consequences satisfy. Three main types of consequence and user goals, which are together called as value types, are identified in the literature: pragmatic, experiential and symbolic. How these value types can be provided by design attributes is examined both with literature review and a research on users&rsquo / pre-purchase value assignment to portable digital audio players. The research on portable digital audio players is conducted using laddering technique. After the interviews with 30 respondents, the value types identified in the literature review as pragmatic, experiential and symbolic value are supported by the data / and and an extension is suggested within the subgroups of experiential value. The salient design attributes that are valued at pre-purchase, and outstanding relations between designed attributes, consequences and user goals are identified.

<p>Denna rapport omfattar ett examensarbete på 22,5 poäng. Examensarbetet har utförts inom ämnet integrerad produktutveckling vid Högskolan i Skövde tillsammans med Jai Designpartner AB. Målet med arbetet var att utveckla ett fällbord som enkelt kan fällas ihop, ha en längre livslängd och lägre vikt än företagets tidigare fällbord. Samarbetet genererade ett fällbord som inte följer de generella principerna av infällning av bordsben. Resultatet blev ett fällbord med minimal klämrisk, med en längre livslängd då infällning av bordsbenet sker med en vridning och med en mindre vikt då ramverk kan elimineras.</p> / <p>This report comprises a 22,5 points degree project. This project has been executed within the area of integrated product development at the University of Skövde in cooperation with Jai Designpartner AB. The objective of the project was to develop a collapsible table that is easy to collapse, has a lower weight and higher feeling of quality, compared to the company´s earlier versions of collapsible tables. The result of the cooperation became a collapsible table with a minimal risk of injury, with a greater endurance since the legs are folded with a turning motion and with a lesser weight since the table lacks framework.</p>

<p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera utlokaliseringen av tekoindustrin i EU15. Man finner svaren i följande frågor: Vilka faktorer bidrar till omflyttning av produktionen till låglöne-länder? Vilka är vinnarna och förlorarna på denna omstrukturering? Hur klarar den Euro-peiska tekoindustrin av dessa utmaningar? Att redogöra för varje EU-land är för omfattan-de därför valdes Sverige och Portugal beroende på att respektive land har en utvecklad och mindre utvecklad ekonomi. Därutöver riktas deras produktion mot olika sektorer av teko-industrin vilket möjliggjorde landsjämförelsen. Största delen av datan har samlats från SourceOECD’s hemsida då den innehåller information som är viktigast for uppsatsen. Re-sultatet visar att när industrin utvecklas och marknaden till slut blir överhettad börjar indu-strilandet att flytta produktionen utomlands, fokuseringen ändras och impörten blir allt vik-tigare. Denna process sker gradvis med hjälp av liberalisering av världshandel och EU ut-ökning.</p> / <p>The purpose of this paper is to analyze the location dynamics of textile and clothing industries in the EU15. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions: What are the factors that contribute to the relocation of European production to low-wage countries? Who are hurt by these changes and who gain? How does the European textile and clothing industry cope with these challenges? It is beyond the scope of this paper to analyze the T/C industry of each EU15 member state. Instead, it specifically investigates Sweden and Portugal’s textile and clothing sectors simply because the former represents Europe’s old economy while the latter the most recent one. In addition, each country devotes its production to the different sectors of the industry, hence this cross-country comparison. Majority of the data is gathered from SourceOECD as the webpage contains information of most value to this paper. The result of this study shows that as an industry matures and competition heats up pricing measures, the developed country moves production operations overseas, ends up as a net importer of the good and shifts focus toward other activities. This process takes effect gradually but the liberalisation of world trade and European enlargement are a few contributing factors which helped anchor relocation decisions.</p>

This is a dissertation for a Bachelor Degree Project at the University of Skövde. The project is carried out in cooperation with the company Kinnarps AB. The objective of this project was to develop a new chair for café and lunch rooms, which should satisfy the markets expectations and demands and match Kinnarps AB’s assortment today. The project has contained everything from identification of user and customer needs and requirements to evaluation and building of a prototype. The result is a chair with a frame of tubular steel and there is nothing like it in Kinnarps AB’s assortment today. The chair has a frame of tubular steel and separate seat and backrest, just like the chairs Jig and Tango as it is intended to replace. The chair’s extraordinary characteristics are that the shape of the backrest enables a good grip and the motion which encourages variation in sitting postures. The motion is new for this kind of chair both in Kinnarps AB’s assortment as well as on the market. The product development process is an iterative process which can be described with the activities: identification of customer requirements, product design specification, initiation of concept solutions, evaluation, embodiment design and detail design. Knowledge about the customer requirements and needs is fundamental to a successful product. The result of the market research showed that the new chair should be a comfortable and inviting chair which is lightweight and simple with a timeless design and organic shape. It also came to our knowledge that it is very important that the chair is stackable, possible to hang on a table and linkable. Different researchers’ literatures have been studied and an analysis has been made in SAMMIE to ensure that the chair has good ergonomics. This is a very important quality but often an unspoken requirement that is taken for granted. The result was carefully evaluated during and after the building of the prototype. Kinnarps AB will also make further analysis and quality tests. This project has hopefully resulted in a chair with good quality and a potential to participate in the competition on the market. / Den här rapporten behandlar ett examensarbete i integrerad produktutveckling. Examensarbetet har gjorts i samarbete med företaget Kinnarps AB. Uppdraget bestod i att utveckla en ny stol till café och lunchrum som ska möta marknadens förväntningar och krav samt passa in i Kinnarps AB:s sortiment. Under projektet har det förutom rena konstruktions- och designförslag gjorts alltifrån marknadsanalys för att få reda på marknadens och kundernas krav, kartläggning av och anpassning till produktion och validering med bl a framtagning av prototyp. Resultatet av arbetet är en stålrörsstol, vars like inte finns i Kinnarps AB:s sortiment idag. Stolen har ett underrede i bockat stålrör samt separat sits och rygg, precis som de befintliga stolarna, Jig och Tango, som den är tänkt att ersätta. Det som är speciellt med stolen och som urskiljer den från konkurrenternas stolar är den mycket greppvänliga ryggen och den sviktande rörelsen i ryggen. Den införda svikten är något nytt för den här typen av stolar och finns idag varken i Kinnarps AB:s sortiment eller ute på marknaden. Produktutvecklingsprocessen är en iterativ process som kan beskrivas med aktiviteterna: fastställande av kundkrav, kravspecifikation, konceptgenerering, utvärdering, förkroppsligande samt detaljdesign. Att veta vad marknaden vill ha eller behöver är en avgörande faktor för en lyckad produkt. Marknadsanalysen visade att den nya stolen bör vara en bekväm och inbjudande stol som är lätt och enkel med en tidlös design och organiska former. Att stolen ska vara möjlig att stapla, hänga upp och koppla ihop med andra stolar visade sig vara viktigt. Att stolen har bra ergonomi är viktigt, varför olika forskares verk studerats. För att ytterligare undersöka de ergonomiska aspekterna har en analys gjorts i programmet SAMMIE. För att göra en ordentlig uppföljning och utvärdering av resultatet togs det fram en prototyp. Det kommer även att göras en riskanalys och kvalitetstest i Kinnarps AB:s ackrediterade laboratorium. Förhoppningsvis har arbetet resulterat i en stol med hög kvalitet och som har god potential att synas i konkurrensen på marknaden.

I denna rapport redovisas arbetsgången för produktutvecklingen av ett rullstolsunderrede med nya design- och konstruktionslösningar. Det slutliga konceptet är ett underrede med två centrala konstruktionslösningar; en hydraulcylinder som medger vertikal sitthöjdsjustering, samt en vaggfunktion i sittplattan som medger ökad balans vid vinkeljustering. Samtliga funktioner på underredet har anpassats för att erbjuda ett enklare och renare ramverk. / This report covers the work procedure for the product development of an undercarriage to a wheelchair, featuring new design- and constructional solutions. The final concept is an undercarriage with two main constructional solutions; a hydraulic cylinder supporting vertical height adjustments and a function which enables the occupant to be tilted forwards or backwards whilst maintaining posture stability. All functions for the undercarriage have been adapted to offer a simpler and cleaner framework.

The recent trend of mass customization has redefined the way companies do business. Each individual customer is now their own market, requiring products specific to their wants and needs at mass production prices. This need for ever-increasing variety is a significant challenge for industry that many times leads to ballooning manufacturing costs and lower product performance. One approach that has received widespread attention and implementation is to develop families of products from standardized product platforms. While, many methods have been developed to address different challenges within product platform design, they are not without their limitations/tradeoffs and therefore leave much room for development and improvement. The Product Platform Constructal Theory Method (PPCTM), developed by Dr. Gabriel Hernandez, is a novel approach for developing product platforms that enable customizable products. Rooted in the tenants of hierarchic systems theory and constructal theory, the PPCTM solves for the product platform as a problem of optimization of access in a geometric space. The result is a hierarchical organization of the modes for managing variety and the specification of their commonality across the product platform. Overall, the PPCTM offers an extremely comprehensive product platform design method, with the ability to accommodate multi-platform design, multiple design specifications, non-uniform demand modeling, and multi-objective decision-making. One limitation of this method is that the selection of platform variables and the modes for managing product variety must be pre-specified or determined ad hoc by the designer. This thesis seeks to address this limitation through the integration of a sensitivity-based analysis method to determine the effect of platform variable variation on the family performance. The result of this work is a Sensitivity-based PPCTM that facilitates the selection of common platform variables, such that modes for managing variety can be ranked and applied to the space element hierarchy. The proposed method is illustrated with three examples: the design of a line of customizable pressure vessels, universal electric motors, and finger pumps.