Design tool

About: Design tool is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3864 publications have been published within this topic receiving 46401 citations.

Reprise: A Design Tool for Specifying, Generating, and Customizing 3D Printable Adaptations on Everyday Objects

Abstract: Everyday tools and objects often need to be customized for an unplanned use or adapted for specific user, such as adding a bigger pull to a zipper or a larger grip for a pen. The advent of low-cost 3D printing offers the possibility to rapidly construct a wide range of such adaptations. However, while 3D printers are now affordable enough for even home use, the tools needed to design custom adaptations normally require skills that are beyond users with limited 3D modeling experience.In this paper, we describe Reprise--a design tool for specifying, generating, customizing and fitting adaptations onto existing household objects. Reprise allows users to express at a high level what type of action is applied to an object. Based on this high level specification, Reprise automatically generates adaptations. Users can use simple sliders to customize the adaptations to better suit their particular needs and preferences, such as increasing the tightness for gripping, enhancing torque for rotation, or making a larger base for stability. Finally, Reprise provides a toolkit of fastening methods and support structures for fitting the adaptations onto existing objects.To validate our approach, we used Reprise to replicate 15 existing adaptation examples, each of which represents a specific category in a design space distilled from an analysis of over 3000 cases found in the literature and online communities. We believe this work would benefit makers and designers for prototyping lifehacking solutions and assistive technologies.

Integrating communication protocol selection with hardware/software codesign

Abstract: This paper explores the problem of determining the characteristics of the communication links in a computer system as well as determining the best functional partitioning. In particular, we present a communication estimation model and show, by the use of this model, the importance of integrating communication protocol selection with hardware/software partitioning. The communication estimation model allows for fast estimation but is still sufficiently detailed as to allow the designer or design tool to efficiently explore tradeoffs between throughputs, bus widths, burst/nonburst transfers, operating frequencies of system components such as buses, CPU's, ASIC's, software code size, hardware area, and component prices. A distinct feature of the model is the modeling of driver processing of data (packing, splitting, compression, etc.) and its impact on communication throughput. The integration of communication protocol selection and communication driver design with hardware/software partitioning is illustrated by a number of design space exploration experiments carried out within the LYCOS cosynthesis system, using models of the PCI and USB protocols.

Computer-based tools for design by strut-and-tie method: advances and challenges

Abstract: The strut-and-tie method (STM) is gaining recognition as a code-worthy and consistent design methodology for discontinuity (D-) regions in structural concrete. However, the development of code provisions for the STM has been hampered by uncertainties in defining strength and dimensions of an idealized load-resisting truss. In addition, the STM has been encumbered by an iterative and time-consuming design procedure in which many geometric details must be considered. To deal with the problem, researchers are developing computer-based tools, such as the authors' computer-aided strut-and-tie (CAST) design tool. CAST provides a graphical working environment for all aspects of the design process, including definition of the D- region, selection of the STM, truss analysis, member definitions, and creation of a design summary. This study details the STM, barriers to its advancement, the capabilities of computer-based design tools, and the CAST program. Suggestions are also made for future STM research.

Desktop haptic virtual assembly using physically based modelling

Abstract: This research investigates the feasibility of using a desktop haptic virtual environment as a design tool for evaluating assembly operations. Bringing virtual reality characteristics to the desktop, such as stereo vision, further promotes the use of this technology into the every day engineering design process. In creating such a system, the affordability and availability of hardware/software tools is taken into consideration. The resulting application combines several software packages including VR Juggler, open dynamics engine (ODE)/open physics abstraction layer (OPAL), OpenHaptics, and OpenGL/GLM/GLUT libraries to explore the benefits and limitations of combining haptics with physically based modelling. The equipment used to display stereo graphics includes a Stereographics emitter, Crystal Eyes shutter glasses, and a high refresh rate CRT Monitor. One or two-handed force feedback is obtained from various PHANTOM haptic devices from SensAble Technologies Inc. The application’s ability to handle complex part interactions is tested using two different computer systems, which approximate the higher and lower end of a typical engineer’s workstation. Different test scenarios are analyzed and results presented.