RESUMEN CARACTERÍSTICAS DE LOS VISITANTES I SEMESTRE  2010

The conclusions of the project are assessed in regard to the research objectives stated in section 1.3 of Chapter One.

8.1.1 The role of prototypes and prototyping in product design process

Prototypes and prototyping play an important role at almost every stage of the product design process, from early concept development until preproduction. They help designers to identify problems and help users to get more involved in the design process. Prototyping is usually a costly and time consuming activity. Proper application of prototypes and prototyping will enhance any design project. However, improper planning and use of them will delay the launch of the product and even reduce the competitive edge of companies.

8.1.2 The strength and weakness of physical and virtual prototypes/prototyping

In the product development process, there are some situations where physical prototyping is more beneficial, while in many other situations virtual prototyping is to be preferred. As a conventional means of prototyping, physical prototyping technologies have a long history in contributing to design and manufacture. Although virtual prototyping has dramatically developed in recent decades, the role of physical prototyping still cannot be completely

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eliminated. As a tangible object, a physical prototype still holds significant advantages in many aspects, such as ergonomics testing, texture testing, size representation, etc. However, the trend of virtual prototyping replacing physical prototyping in many tasks is also obvious. Depending on the advanced computing technologies, virtual prototypes, which are usually 3D models, are able to bring time and cost savings in many circumstances compared to physical prototypes. Overall, the advantages and weaknesses of either physical or virtual prototyping are arguable and depend much on the application context. The designers should choose proper prototyping means according to the particular situation. In addition, the reality that both of physical and virtual prototype/prototyping has advantages and disadvantages brings the need for their integration.

8.1.3 Contributions and limitations of existing PP and VP integration technologies

The technologies that integrate physical and virtual prototyping such as CNC machining, Rapid Prototyping, Reverse Engineering, Parametric Prototyping, etc. have been investigated and discussed in Chapter four. All of these technologies have shown their strengths compared to stand alone physical or virtual prototyping and have made significant contributions to product design and development. However, the limitations of these technologies are significant. For example, they are still time consuming and costly; they do not pay enough attention to user involvement; they require specific and complex software to support, and so on. These limitations would cause problems for their application by product designers.

8.1.4 The need for real time integration of PP and VP

After the research on the characteristics of physical and virtual prototypes and the related technologies for their integration, a solution that could deal with the

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current problems was to integrate physical and virtual prototypes in a real time manner. Based on this premise, the literature review and a questionnaire survey were conducted. The results showed that the real time integration of physical and virtual prototypes is needed but still in its infancy. Following on from this, a method that integrates physical and virtual prototypes in a quick way was proposed and an initial pilot study was undertaken. Although within this version of the proposed method, the integration was still not „real time‟, it showed again the significance of simultaneous integration to the product designers and the users. In addition, the pilot study also indicated the feasibility of the proposed integration method and the necessity to develop it further.

8.1.5 Develop a system for the integration of PP and VP

As a result of this research, a new integration system called LUPIS has been developed. This system took several main aims into consideration. Firstly, it should make the best use of the advantages of both physical and virtual prototypes; secondly, it should be compatible with most 3D modelling software that is commonly used by product designers; thirdly, it should improve the involvement of users in the design process.

With these considerations, a suitable sensor device became the key in this system to connect the physical and virtual prototype. After research on related technologies and devices, the mechanical computer mouse was finally chosen and modified to connect these two types of prototypes. Although the computer mouse is not seen as a complex or high-tech device nowadays, its compatibility with most computers and 3D modelling software is unmatched. In addition, it can achieve a simultaneous update from the physical to the virtual prototype.

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From the initial proposal of the method, there were three main stages to developing the system, i.e. building the models, setting up the integration technology and performing some user trials. In the development process, a chair was used as the platform to demonstrate the feasibility of this system. However, the system was not just designed to work with chair prototypes, it could be expended to other product designs, such as an office table, a motorbike, etc. The trials showed that, this system could help improve design activities by shortening design time and get users more involved in the design on ergonomics and aesthetics issues. However, the accuracy of this system was a problem and more engineering work would be needed to improve it.