Shaping an encapsulation for a room thermostat unit that is tied to the
company identity
Design of an encapsulation to present Swegon… softly
Utformning av klimatkontroll knutet till företags identitet Design av en inkapsling som säger Swegon… fast tyst
Anders Samsson
Faculty Board of Health, Science and Technology MSGC12
22,5 hp
Supervisor: Lennart Wihk Examiner: Leo de Vin 12/11/2014
1
Abstract
The project described in this report were done as a Bachelor thesis in the course MSGC12, for a bachelor degree at the Innovation and design-‐engineering program at Karlstad University. The course is 22,5hp and goes for 20 weeks over the whole spring term. The project originated from an earlier project done with Swegon AB. The project goal is to find a design of a room thermostat, and demonstrate notably important features that can create an added value to Swegon or their costumers. This will later collaborate with another project that is going on simultaneously. These will unite and present a mutual product.
The room thermostats existing today often has very plastic feel to them and is not very adaptable to the environments that they are placed in. They are also not very distinctive and they look pretty much the same regardless of maker.
The method used in this project follows the steps set for the industrial product development process. A big part of this process is the iterative cycle were problem solving and life cycle perspective is important pillars. It is here that the modularity comes in. The project is based on a feasibility study with focus on finding innovative ways for the user to get data and make changes to their environment.
To arrive at the final prototype, the project have gone through different analyses, discussions with the company, idea generation, patent check, workshop work, and concept screenings and partners in the project picked the concept which from their view were the best at Swegon.
When these opinions were in, a 3d model were developed during the creation of said model, problems were encountered these were solved along the way. The model was then printed in a 3d printer. The prototype were then fitted with a light frame where the light could shine
through and be projected onto the material. A complete prototype is made up of five parts, these are back plate, frame, plexiglass, light frame and material to project the symbols on. The product is not final but it points in a direction for the coming products.
Sammanfattning
Projektet beskrivet i denna rapport utfördes som ett examensarbete i kursen MSGC12, för högskoleingenjörsexamen med inriktning Innovationsteknik och design. Kursen är 22,5hp och sträcker sig över hela vårterminen. Uppdragsgivare i projektet var Swegon AB. Projektet har sitt ursprung i ett tidigare projektarbete som utfördes på skolan. Projektet har som målsättning att hitta en mekanisk utformning av inkapslingen av en rumstermostat, samt att påvisa särskilt viktiga egenskaper som kan skapa mervärde för slutkund eller Swegon. Denna kommer sedan att presenteras tillsammans med ett parallellt liggande projekt. Detta samarbete redovisas sedan i en gemensam produkt.
De rumskontroller som finns idag är ofta av en väldigt plastig variant och inte speciellt anpassningsbara till de olika miljöer där de kan tänkas finnas i. De är heller inte speciellt särpräglade utan de ser rätt lika ut för de olika tillverkarna.
Metodiken som projektet genomförs enligt är den industriella produktutvecklings processen.
Stor del i denna process är den iterativa process där problemlösnings fas och
livscykelperspektivet där modulariteten uppkommer. Projektet är baserat på en förstudie med fokus på att finna innovativa sätt för brukaren att ta del av data och göra inställningar.
För att komma fram till den slutgiltiga prototypen så har projektet innehållit olika analyser, diskussioner med företaget, idegenereringar, patentundersökningar, verkstadsarbete, koncept sållning och inblandade parter på Swegon fick ge sin åsikt. När sedan dessa steg var klara så CAD;ades en 3d modell. Vid framställningen av CAD-‐modellen så påträffades en del problem, dessa löstes efterhand som modellen arbetades fram. Detta arbete ledde fram till en prototyp som skrevs ut i en 3d-‐printer. Prototypen har en ljusram där ljus kan skina igenom och
projeceras på materialet. Prototypen består av fem delar, baksidan, ramen, plexiglas, ljusram och materialet som ljuset projeceras på. Det är ingen fullständig lösning men visar på en riktning för projektet att ta.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ... 8
1.1 Background ... 8
1.2 Problem formulation ... 8
1.3 Purpose ... 8
1.4 Aim ... 8
1.5 Delimitations ... 8
2 Method ... 9
2.1 Planning the project ... 9
2.2 Feasibility study ... 9
2.3 Analyses ... 10
2.4 Requirements Specification ... 11
2.5 Idea generation ... 11
2.6 Concept Development ... 12
2.7 Documentation and presentation ... 15
3 Result ... 17
3.1 Planning the project ... 17
3.2 Feasibility study ... 17
3.3 Analyses ... 18
3.4 Requirements specification ... 19
3.5 Idea generation ... 20
3.6 Concept Development ... 20
3.7 Documentation and presentation ... 24
4 Discussion ... 26
5 Conclusion ... 28
6 Future work ... 29
7 Thanks ... 30
8 References ... 31
Appendices
Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3
1 Introduction
1.1 BackgroundThis project is a 22.5 hp course that stretches for a total time of 17 weeks. It is an examination project named MSGC12 and is for the degree Bachelor of Science in Innovation and Design Engineering. In a previous project (Fritzon et al. 2014) with Swegon a group of students were appointed to come up with a new room thermostat that would harmonize with already existing sensors and also come up with a concept that would work with the existing products. This work is a continuation of that.
1.2 Problem formulation
How to design an encapsulation that speaks about the brand and is also innovative, utilizes modular properties that will give an added value to the product.
1.3 Purpose
The purpose of the project is to present a new design which should have give added value to the product and have advantages towards competitors. Present one or more mechanical designs to Swegon. Swegon want to start of a theme for their room control units. To stand out on todays market there needs to be innovative and smart solutions, this is what Swegon wants out of the thesis/project.
The work will be shown in a presentation and a report.
1.4 Aim
To present Swegon with one or more mechanical designs that is used for controlling and maintaining the best indoor climate. The project is also aiming for a product that have some modular properties and a look that is easily changed. To make it future proof it might need more then one execution. The aim is for the two projects to be combined in the end and present one product. Swegon want the report to be written in English.
The academic aim of the project is to give a presentation of the project, an exhibition and a report. The presentation is done with a PowerPoint, another PowerPoint presentation will be done halfway
through. The exhibition will be held in school and the project will be presented for all to see. The project time is about 600 hours and the aim is to pass the course. Passing it is the highest grade. The project will proceed for about 20 weeks and starts in week 4.
1.5 Delimitations
The working hours will be 50% in the first half and 100% in the second half of the period. The model development should be included in the 20 weeks. Seeing as it might be hard to get to know the cost side of things this will not be taken into account. There is a project going parallel to this, that project will work out the design of the user interface for the Room control unit. Another restriction is that it will not be gesture or voice controlled, it will sit on a wall. The sensors will not be taken into account with this design. Only the capsuling for the control will be taken into account in this project.
2 Method
The project will work in accordance with the development processes detailed in Produktutveckling – effektiva metoder för konstruktion och design (Johannesson et al. 2004)
2.1 Planning the project
The project were initiated with a meeting where the overall specifics where set. This meeting also initiated the planning process. From this meeting a mission statement was also issued. With the planning an attempt to grasp what would be involved in trying to successfully complete the project started. The road to completion looks fairly similar to that of the earlier project (Fritzon et al. 2014).
But in this project some steps were planned to take longer time due to experiences from the earlier project (Fritzon et al. 2014). In project planning there a few points that should be defined these are:
• The goal should be well defined
• The start and finish date of the project should be defined
• The workload should be defined
• There should be a specified work order
A time plan were created in the form of a Gantt-‐schedule (Johannesson et al. 2004). The grid points were put in place and the schedule were working like a breakdown of the different parts in the project (appendix 1).
2.2 Feasibility study
Research were conducted through several different medias. The media most frequently used were the Internet. The feasibility study does not require much in terms of resources but the accumulated cost is affecting the later stages of the project greatly (Johannesson et al. 2004).
2.2.1 Competitor research
Competitor research were conducted online and also at the fair Nordbygg in Älvsjö. The information gathering online consisted of looking up competitors to Swegon to see what their controllers looked like. Other than that,
controllers and sensors of all sorts and sizes were of interest. Controls for media systems were also a section that were also looked into with interest. Really all kinds of different inputs and outputs that can latter be utilized in the controls were considered.
2.2.2 Observations
Observations of people handling controls and different sorts of buttons were conducted. The author also conducted a test with post-‐its. The buttons that were observed during use were the light switches at the school. Door opening switches in the SJ trains. The author also put up post-‐its at home to see how he interacted with the switches and how he wanted to interact with the control (post-‐it). At the university there are light switches that are multipurpose they turn on and off the light, but they can also dim the light. The switches have a spring in them. How people interacted with them were observed. Touchscreen displays was also looked into.
2.2.3 Interview
The interviews were performed at any place a controller were encountered. A seller at Swegon were interviewed to see what the customers expectations were before they had seen the system, and also what they thought about it afterwards. There were an intention to interview architects but this step were skipped. At Nordbygg informal unstructured interviews were conducted to see what were
important for them (other companies that make controls) in the making and using of their controllers.
The choice of using the unstructured interview came since the author’s knowledge on the subject controllers, were somewhat poor. Using the unstructured interview approach allowed the interviewee to talk about what they thought were important for them in their process of making the controller and not what the author had thought about before. In the interviews conducted, questions asked were regarding the form factor and to understand why they made them like this.
2.2.4 Literature
The books used to acquire more knowledge were found through discussions with friends and
suggestions from teachers, other books that have been used have been course material. The literature that have been important for the completion of the thesis have been Produktutveckling – effektiva metoder för konstruktion och design (Johannesson et al. 2004). Design i fokus för produktutveckling -‐
Varför ser saker ut som de gör? (Österlin 2007) were used while performing the function analysis.
Design for product understanding (Monö 1997) were of great help when doing the semantic analysis In Ideagenten (Breiler & Michanek 2012) methods for idea generation is shown and a step by step guide to how to perform them. Modulindela Produkten (Erixon et al. 1994) were read with the intention of simplifying the process of making the control modular. If the product modules have excessive need of other modules, that shows a lack of good design (Erixon et al. 1994).
2.2.5 Talks
Talks with employees at Swegon have been of great help to further understand the uses and the
deeper functions of the control. A presentation of an older project were held, the presentation covered the development from beginning to manufacture. This project was developed together with then Ergonomidesign, now Veryday. The product developed in that project was the IQ-‐Navigator. 2.3 Analyses
Analyses were performed in order to help with the Technical specification. A function analysis is made to make the different functions that the product should contain visible (Johannesson et al. 2004).
Semantic analysis were also done on the result of the previous project (Fritzon et al. 2014) and two of Swegons existing models the Tune control and Luna (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Tune Control and Luna
2.3.1 Function Analysis
In the process of creating a product there is a need to figure out why the product should exist, it’s main function and how to accomplish it. The function analysis were performed in order to clarify the main function of the control. It is also important not to specify too much since that may diminish the space for the solutions. The functions were then broken down to part functions. This were made with the hopes that it would simplify the later step of making a requirements specification. The focus of the function analysis is what not how, that means that here getting a sense of what the problem is what’s important not how to solve it (Österlin 2010).
2.3.2 Semantic Analysis
In the choice between different products, how the product is perceived is very important (Monö 1997).
In interaction with a product all of the senses are used. Because of this it is important for the designer to take into account all of the senses when creating a product. This is reason enough to do a semantic analysis. The functions of the product is also of importance and it should be easy for the user to realize the use of the product. In a semantic analysis a study of how the words describe, express, exhort and identify is manifested by the product (Monö 1997).
To describe -‐ purpose, mode of operation To express -‐ properties
To exhort -‐ reactions
To identify -‐ a product, its origin, kinship, location and nature From Design for product understanding. (Monö 1997)
2.4 Requirements Specification
The requirements specification came together in an attempt to find what the product needed as a ground to build upon, this grounding consists of requests that the product is trying to fulfill. The requests can be both from the company and from the research found in the earlier stages of the
process. The requirements specification is usually not written in stone this document can change as the project progresses. Most likely it will be modified and changed during the project. This is because during the different parts of the project, insights to how the product should be, may come along the way. The requirement specification gets helped to be developed by the function analysis.
2.5 Idea generation
To help generate ideas there are quite a few different methods that can be used. What these methods have in common is to open up the imagination of the people participating, and also find ideas that lie outside of the ”box”. Idea generation methods are also used to help break up old thought patterns (Breiler & Michanek 2012).
This step of the process were done twice, the first time were somewhat of a rehearsal for the second time. The purpose of the rehearsal were to try out the questions. Session 2 being a little bit bigger with more participants. This first event were also used to write down ideas that have been following the project since the start.
Rehearsal, Session 1
The method used in the first session were slip-‐writing and brainstorming combined. Two questions were asked and with each question participants were given 5 min to write down ideas on post-‐it notes, then one additional time just to collect any lingering ideas. The ideas were then presented one by one by the participant that made them. This session had three participants.
Session 2
The method applied at this session were 6-‐3-‐5 (Breiler & Michanek 2012). The ideas are presented on six A3 papers. At this session two questions were asked one at the beginning and then halfway through the ideation another question were presented. First a grid of 3 by 6 squares are drawn on a A3 paper, these are later used to draw each idea in. The participant’s gets one row of 3 squares for each 5 min and the paper is then passed along. The thought is for the participants to draw ideas from the ideas drawn by the previous participants pictures presented on the row above. This session had six
participants. The questions that were asked were, one ”How would something look that regulates the climate in a room?” two ”How would it be put on the wall?”.
Figure 2. Participants in the idea generation 2.6 Concept Development
The material from the ideation were first sorted and then put together to make concepts. Some of the concepts were clearly shaped as full concepts and these were then made as their own concepts by default. Others just consisted of an idea that did not make a full concept, these were then added together to other ideas to make a full concept. It were important for Swegon that the product had
some sense of modularity. The suggestions for how to modify the look of the control were sketched out here. Most of the jokers were taken out due to time constraints. Some features were brought out and chosen as key features. The concepts were then made slight alterations to so that the key features would apply. If a feature could not be applied to the concept this concept were then dismissed. There were also concepts sorted out due to them looking similar to competing products already on the market. The concepts were sorted in order to live up to the needs and wishes described in the requirement analysis. This would mean that most of the features would apply to any of the chosen concepts, and if a concept could not harbor a feature then it would be dismissed.
2.6.1 Workshop
After the ideation work in the workshop were initiated to try out the different solutions. This work consisted of seeing if the ideas would be working not just on paper. Methods used were sand blasting, milling and sanding to the needed finish.
Figure 3. Lathe work 2.6.2 Material
In this step materials were found and tested to see if they could work as the ideas from the ideation expected them to. The tests were mostly to see if the ability to shine through them were good. The materials were in some cases machined till they were very thin or in other cases they were made opaque. Other materials were bought and tested. Altogether 10 different materials were tested.
2.6.3 Patent check
After the materials were tested, on some of them a patent check were done using Google. This were done since Swegon had asked for the products to stay away from existing patents. This since it’s a lot more expensive to license a patent then using a method not including a patent. There are challenges in reading patents since they are written in a difficult language. If encountering a patent that resembles an idea from the ideation, it will be given to Swegon for them to look into further. A call were made to
the PRV (Patent och Registrerings Verket) to make sure that the reading of the patents were done right. After this a call were made to Swegon to see what they thought about the recollected patents.
2.6.4 Concept presentation
The concepts were presented on the 13 of May. Attending were seven people from Swegon, three were participating via telelink, four other were joining in person. They were from different
departments and all had their own wishes for what they wanted. They were all part of the project group. The presentation were held at Swegons office in Arvika. There were seven different concepts presented and one joker. The joker were there to show of something that were very out of the box and not included in the voting. The different materials were also presented, but first the presentation of the concepts and then to make sure that everybody remembered how the different materials performed, a PowerPoint showing how the materials looked, were distributed. The attendees were given a link to a Google form (figure 4). In the form they could choose the concepts they liked the most and give comments regarding which material they think would fit each of the concepts. The picks regarding the seven different concepts were then evaluated. The attendees were to choose two concepts each and in the comment section they were encouraged to comment on things regarding not just the material, but also other things that they thought was important from their professional
opinion. Since the features would apply to all of the concepts the features were presented but not in connection to any particular concept.
Figure 4. Google form
2.6.5 Prototype
In this step an attempt to make a prototype of the choosen concept were performed. To begin with the concept were first sketched to try to apply solutions to the chosen concept at this stage not all the features were adapted to the chosen concept. Some technical problems were solved in this step with the help of a CAD model, in this step some technical specifications were applied such as a PIR(Passive Infrared sensor) for proximity sensing there might also be another solution. For easier visualization, the model were later printed in a 3d printer, and were then re-‐modeled to be shown of as a prototype. In this first prototype not all of the finishing touches are in place since this is just for show, for example built in light fixtures are missing.
2.7 Documentation and presentation 2.7.1 Report
The writing process were planed to be an ongoing process for the entire project. When writing the report Produktutveckling – effektiva metoder för konstruktion och design (Johannesson et al. 2004) have been of much use and also a good guide. The official report guide have been fervently used. The reference system used in the report is the Harvard system. There were a choice between two very different word processors, Microsoft Word and Sharelatex. Sharelatex sort of is a web based open
source code compiler but for text. Sharelatex were chosen to write the report in but in the last days of the project a move back to Word were done. During the last part of the project the report is submitted to supervisors at Karlstad University to determine if the report have a chance to pass.
2.7.2 Presentation
Two presentations were held, a progress report in the middle of Mars and the final report at the end of the project. The final presentation were presented in front of external judges and input were given on the design aspects of the project. The presentations were made with Powerpoint.
3 Result
3.1 Planning the project
At the meeting, the project were presented for the supervisor Lennart Wihk and the examiner Leo de Vin. Here a division of the work were done, one being the user interface aspects and the other being the mechanical design of the product. By using the Gantt-‐schedule the amount of time used at every step were easily observed. The schedule were changed due to some things taking longer then
expected, and this then resulted in a new Gantt-‐schedule (appendix 1). The project is built on an earlier project (Fritzon et al. 2014) some of the steps would be performed again. But since that project were done with a group of four people and this were done by one person, therefor some differences occurred. Backward planning were used to create the second Gantt-‐schedule (Eriksson & Lilliesköld 2004).
3.2 Feasibility study
Through out the research a lot of information were gathered concerning what were already on the market. The other thing that were found were the different ways that electronics can be interacted with and what kind of electronics that should be used to achieve the desired effect.
3.2.1 Competitor research
In the search for competing companies controllers, quite a few were found. There are quite a few of these controllers around most of the competing companies have their own and then there is also manufacturers that specialize in just making controllers and not the whole climate system. Almost everywhere were a control were encountered they were tried and tested and photographed. Also at the fair Nordbygg a number of controllers were found, interactions with the control were the first step and then informal interviews were conducted.
3.2.2 Observations
From the observations the realization that when there were no feedback saying that something had occurred there would be frustration from the user. The feedback were not sufficient even in the mechanical system on the dimmer effect. This led to the conclusion that it were not a problem in how the button felt when pressed. The feedback from the post-‐it test were that a display that were slanted could make the controls easier to work with since the finger can rest on the button, but a slanted display might also reflect the light in ways that is not beneficial for the user.
3.2.3 Interview
The interviews were personal and made it easier to find the deeper meaning of what the interviewee wanted. Being able to ask follow up questions helps a lot when trying to gain a better perspective on a matter. A lot of interviews were made at Nordbygg with the goal of understanding how they wanted the temperature to be shown. Also on how many types of inputs they wanted. When talking to people about the design of their control they mostly said that; the person that made it wanted it to look good and that were about it. The intention to talk to architects were closed down after two interviews, this since architects seemed to want them (the room thermostats) to be hidden in an electrical box together with the fuses.
3.2.4 Literature
Books were a great source of methods. From Ideagenten (Breiler & Michanek 2012) methods on how to generate ideas were taken and used. DiVA-‐portal.org is a search engine for a number of schools were research papers and student research papers are published. Diva were used to find how and what
other methods people used that could be found in the books. The book Modulindela produkten (Erixon et al. 1994) were read in an attempt to use the method described. There are few examples of when there is negative effects from using a full modular approach. One of them is when there is a high quantity without variants and no need for further development (Erixon et al. 1994). This does in parts describe this case. Since the thesis were so far away from the production, Swegon had not yet decided on what company should manufacture the encapsulation. There were not a lot of people to ask about the production side of things. Trying to answer if the product were shortening the holding cost or material cost would be very hard. Things used from the book were the modular drivers such as carry-‐
over, technical developments, styling, upgrades and different specifications. These were then
implemented in the Concept development. To add sustainability to the report Mayfield & Lewis 2013, were read.
3.2.5 Talks
The talks revolved much about the ethics of showing the temperature, but also what kind of
technologies that could be utilized in the project. Technologies discussed were OLED-‐screens and light, e-‐paper and capacitive sensors. There were earlier an ambition to make the project wireless but after some discussions this demand were removed since there were no longer a need for that. There is also a wish that the control does not use a lot of electricity so this made the e-‐paper a viable option for later controls. Another thing that emerged during talks were that the encapsulation should be able to be switched but only by someone that knew how. What also emerged were a deeper feel for what they thought Swegon represented. The presentation of the IQ-‐Navigator were interesting. Although there were no direct points to take from it to apply to this project, it were somewhat helpful in finding Swegon specific values. These were, a wish to be an innovative company, using different materials and colors, and the move away from boring.
3.3 Analyses Function Analysis
Since the controller is one of the few visible parts of the climate system, it is also the face of the
climate system. This function were then set as the main function in the function analysis tree (figure 5).
Figure 5. Function analysis tree
The outward face of Swegon
Allow changes to the look
Allow modularity
Allow simple change of look
Demand knowldege for
change
Create reputaqon
Create newsworth-‐
iness
Create demand
Break tradiqonal
form Allow usage
Idenqfy company
Convey qualqy Express enviromental
care
Semantic Analyses
Three semantic analyses were made, here are some examples from the Luna
Expresses In what way Improvements
Looking cheap Simple shape. Few functions.
Colour rubs of.
Another material or colour
Plasticky Plastic feel & white Another material. Scale with bumps
All of the three semantic analyses can be found in appendix 2. Another thing that came out of the semantic analysis were that a rounder form might be seen more as inviting and friendly.
3.4 Requirements specification Here the Requirement specification is shown.
Chart. 1
Criteria -‐
nr. Criteria Demands/
wishes Rate (1-‐5) Functional/
limiting
1 Identify company W 4 L
2 Exhort relationship with climate regulation W 3 L
3 Allow for changes to the look W 4 F
4 Allow modularity W 5 F
5 Allow wall mounting D L
6 Express Quality D F
7 Fulfil iso14001 demands D F
8 To stand wear and tear D L
9 Create demand W 3 F
10 Create reputation W 4 F
11 Create newsworthiness W 4 F
12 Break traditional form W 3 L
13 Express environmental care W 4 F
14 Demand knowledge for change W 4 F
15 Allow a simple change of look W 5 F
3.5 Idea generation
Having two separate idea generation sessions allowed for some reflection between the events. This gave some additional ideas to add to the second occasion.
Session 1
In this session more than 40 ideas were created. Here are a few examples from this session:
1. An encapsulation made out of birch where the light shines through the material.
2. A laser projecting a screen on a wall.
3. A capsule using an electronic paper display.
4. A capsule making a shadow on the wall to make the effect of the capsule not touching the wall.
Session 2
From this session 77 ideas came out and the material from session two were later combined with the material from the rehearsal. Here are some examples from this session:
1. A thin frame with some sort of display in it.
2. A round frame with a wheel control on the outside.
Sorting
After the last session some of the ideas that came up were similar to each other and one of these were taken out, there was also a few ideas that did not make sense and these were also thrown away.
The rest are shown in figure 6.
Figure 6. The lasting ideas after a first sorting
3.6 Concept Development
The material from the ideations were first sorted in categories of ”to attach”, ”form” and ”function”
and then put together to make concepts. When the concept development were done, seven concepts (figure 7) were left standing. In the earlier project (Fritzon et al. 2014) the leaf was abbreviated from the Swegon logo and used by itself as the logo, this could also be the case here. It is not placed on any
of the concepts but might be put in place in the prototype in a later phase of the project.
Figure 7. The seven concepts
3.6.1 Workshop
Different materials were tried in order to make effect of light shining through the material. Woods tested were teak, pine, birch and mahogany. The first thought were to use a lathe and make the whole front side out of wood to make a box like cover as a capsulation. This were deemed too advanced to do with wood since it is a living material and might contort itself unless done by a professional. Birch was cut and sanded to reach desired thickness (figure 8).
Figure 8. Birch and teak tests
3.6.2 Material
In this step materials were found and tested to see if they could work as the ideas from the ideation expected them to. The tests were mostly to see if the ability to shine through them were good. The materials were in some cases machined till they were very thin or in other cases they were made opaque. Other materials were bought and tested. A number of materials were tested. Birch veneer were bought and the shine through effect were tested on this material to. Also a material called Plasti dip were tested Abrasive blasting were done to Plexiglas and the effect of frosted glass were acquired.
Plexiglas were dipped in Plastidip and then on one side the Plastidip were removed, the coverage were not that good but it were good enough to show how it would look. To get a better coverage with Plastidip, a spray can could be used. An plastic mirror could be put on a Plexiglas sheet and then the light would shine through when on. With birch either shining with the grain or perpendicular to it produce different results, they both work. When shining with the grain, the sheet of birch could be a little bit thicker. Another material that were tried were textile and it had a good shine through effect.
Paper were also tested. How light shine through most of the materials are shown in figure 9.
Figure 9. Shine through effect
3.6.3 Patent check
The application for WO2012056356 have a likeness to the light through wood shine tested in the workshop work step. The patent for this technology does not seem to be using the same kind of method to get its look as the proposed method for achieving the effect on the control.
The patent US 20050018433 does also have a likeness to the effect but this patent uses an optic layer to achieve a light up effect of the whole surface. This does also not apply to the effect achieved in the proposed method of the controller. The material used might not be the one used in the finished product since it will have modular properties there is a choice of materials that can be used. The answer from the PRV is that it is not likely that there will be a patent covering Sweden. But since there are large number of materials that can be used, this is probably a non-‐issue.
3.6.4 Concept presentation
After the presentation of the 7 different concepts that were shown, each person attending got a link to a form where they could present their choices and also see the. The people attending came in with different backgrounds and demands on the product. This helped point out which concept were the best fit for all the involved parties. Then it were time for Q&A and some of the features of the concepts were explained. A presentation of the tested materials were handed out to show the shine through effects on these. In the comments no material were chosen as a winner, but the general direction were towards different kinds of woods and colored plastics. The frame could be made in plastic, aluminum or wood or even a ceramic material although that might be quite farfetched. The parts might also be a mix of different materials some blend of wood and aluminum. The comments regarding the chosen concept were that it needed to be able to change according to each customer. Seeing that all the important features could be adapted to each concept this were a check on what attendees thought of the aesthetics, only one out of the seven attendees did not pick the option shown in figure 10.
Figure 10. Winning concept
3.6.5 Prototype
In this step an attempt to make a prototype of the winning
concept were started. The first step were to sketch out the features it needed and then make sure there were ways to fit them in the encapsulation. The next step were to make a CAD of the different parts, the frame can be seen in figure 11, at this stage the magnetic locking mechanism were created.
Although the idea for it were thought out much earlier, this to fulfill the request that the
control could only be opened Figure 11. The making of the frame in CAD
