IB Design Technology CORE Topics 1-6 Vocabulary

Flashcards covering vocabulary from IB Design Technology CORE Topics 1-6 lecture notes.

Anthropometrics

Measurements of human beings of all ages and sizes; used in design to ensure products are the right size and comfortable to use.

Human Factors

The combination of ergonomics and anthropometrics; aims to reduce stress and fatigue, increase safety and ease of use, enhance comfort, and improve system performance.

Ergonomics

The application of scientific information concerning the relationship of human beings to the design of objects, systems, and environments.

Physical Ergonomics

Deals with posture, worksite development, operating layout, material handling, repetitive stress and movement, injuries, and occupational safety.

Cognitive Ergonomics

Concerned with mental processes such as perception, memory, reasoning, and motor response, affecting interactions among humans and systems.

Organizational Ergonomics

Includes communication, work design, shift management, crew resource management, teamwork, virtual organizations, telework, and quality management.

Anthropometric Data

Sub-classified as Static Data (Structural data) and Dynamic Data (Functional data).

Static Data (Structural Data)

Measurements taken while the subject is in a fixed or standard position (e.g., height, arm length).

Dynamic Data (Functional Data)

Measurements taken during physical activities (e.g., crawling height, overhead reach).

Percentiles

Used in anthropometry tables to indicate whether a measurement relates to the 'average' person or someone above or below average.

Clearance

The minimum distance required to enable a user group into or through an area, important in emergency exits and safety hatches.

Reach (Workspace Envelope)

A 3-dimensional space within which physical work activities are carried out at a fixed location.

Ergonome

A 2D scaled physical anthropometric model based on a specific percentile human form.

Manikin

An anatomical 3D model of the human body, useful for assessing the relationship of body parts to spatial arrangements.

Nominal Data Scale

Classification of objects into discrete groups identified with a name, without providing any measurement within or between categories.

Ordinal Data Scale

Deals with the order or position of items, arranged in a hierarchical order, but quantitative assessment cannot be made.

Interval Data Scale

Organized into even divisions or intervals of equal size, but there is no true zero point.

Ratio Data Scale

Has a true zero point, allowing for comparison of differences between numbers.

Alertness

Being aware of what is happening in the vicinity to understand the impact of information, events, and actions on goals and objectives.

Slips

Result from automatic behavior, when subconscious actions that are intended to satisfy our goals get waylaid en route.

Mistakes

Result from conscious deliberations, reflecting errors in planning or judgment.

Fatigue

Temporary diminishment of performance, which can be physical and/or mental.

Comfort

A qualitative consideration that differs massively between different people and can affect design decisions for users.

Biomechanics

Research and analysis of the mechanics of the human body, including the operation of muscles, joints, and tendons.

Renewable Resources

Natural sources which can replenish with time, such as wind and solar energy.

Non-Renewable Resources

Finite materials that will deplete over time, such as fossil fuels and minerals.

Reserves

Energy resources projected on the basis of geologic and engineering data that cannot be obtained at present due to economic or technical reasons.

Waste Mitigation Strategies

Methods to reduce or eliminate the volume of material disposed to landfill.

Dematerialization

The reduction of total material and energy throughput of any product and service, limiting its environmental impact.

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)

A technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all stages of a product's life from cradle to grave.

Circular Economy

The use of waste as a resource within a closed loop system.

Embodied Energy

All the energy required to produce a product.

Local Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

An efficient approach to generating electric power and useful thermal energy from a single fuel source.

Clean Technology

Seeks to reduce waste and pollution from production processes through radical or incremental development of a production system.

Take Back Legislation

Puts the onus on manufacturers to deal with a product or its waste at the end of its life cycle.

End-of-Pipe Technologies

Clean-up technologies added to the end of the manufacturing process to reduce emissions and waste.

System Level Solutions

Approaches to pollution and waste that consider the interrelationships rather than individual elements.

Green Design

Integrates environmental considerations into the design of a product without compromising its integrity.

Design for Manufacture (DfM)

Designing products so they can be easily and efficiently manufactured with minimal environmental impact.

Eco Design

Considers the design of a product throughout its life cycle, using lifecycle analysis.

Cradle to Grave

Design that considers the environmental effects of a product all the way from manufacture to use to disposal.

Cradle to Gate

Assessment of a partial product life cycle from resource extraction to the factory gate.

Conceptual Modeling

Outlines the principles, processes, and basic functions of a design or system. Used to assist our understanding by simulating the subject matter they represent.

Service Design

The activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between service provider and customers.

Graphical Modeling

Used to communicate design ideas. They can take many forms, but their prime function is always the same—to simplify the data and present it in such a way that understanding of what is being presented aids further development or discussion.

Isometric Drawings

Used to accurately show what a product will look like when it is finished, an angle of the object in the drawing being 30 degrees.

Orthographic Projection

A way of drawing an 3D object from different directions. Usually a front, side and plan view are drawn so that a person looking at the drawing can see all the important sides.

Physical Modelling

A three-dimensional, tangible representation of a design or system.

Aesthetic Models

Developed to look and feel like the final product. They are used for many purposes including ergonomic testing and evaluating visual appeal.

Mock-ups

Are used to test ideas. They are scale or full-size representation of a product used to gain feedback from users.

Functional Prototypes

A sample or model built to test a concept or process.

Instrumented physical models

Are equipped with the ability to take measurements to provide accurate quantitative feedback for analysis.

Computer-aided design (CAD)

Is the generation, creation, development and analysis of a design or system using computer software.

Surface Modelling

Surface models are photo-realistic images of a product, offering some machining data but no data about the interior of the product.

Solid modelling

Solid models are clear representations of the final product. They provide a complete set of data for the product to be realized including internal dimensions and volume.

Virtual prototyping

Involves the use of surface and solid modelling to develop photo-realistic interactive models.

Top-down modelling

“Top-down” design is a product-development process obtained through 3D, parametric and associated CAD systems.

Bottom-up modelling

When designing using a “bottom-up” strategy, the designer creates part geometry independent of the assembly or any other component.

Digital humans

Digital humans are computer simulations of a variety of mechanical and biological aspects of the human body.

Haptic technology

A technology that interfaces the user via a sense of touch.

Finite element analysis (FEA)

Finite element analysis involves the calculation and simulation of unknown factors in products using CAD systems, for example, simulating stresses within a welded car part.

Rapid prototyping

Is the production of a physical model of a design using three-dimensional CAD data.

Physical Properties

Tend to be the characteristic of materials that can be identified through testing considered to be non-destructive.

Weight

Relies on mass and gravitational forces to provide measurable value.

Density

Is the mass per unit volume of a material.

Mechanical properties

Properties which involve a reaction to an applied force, such as Tensile Strength, Compressive Strength and Stiffness.

Superalloys

Alloys based on Iron-Nickel, Cobalt, or Nickel that exhibit excellent mechanical strength and creep resistance at high temperatures.

Timber

A major building material that is renewable and uses the Sun’s energy to renew itself in a continuous cycle.

Hardwood

Comes from deciduous trees. These are broad leaved and often shed their leaves during winter, depending on the climate.

Seasoning

A controlled drying process that timber must undergo.

Softwood

Comes from coniferous trees. These have needles that are kept year-round.

Conversion of timber

After a tree has been felled/cut down and taken to a sawmill, it is converted ready for seasoning. After the timber dries out, it is cut into smaller sections.

Man-made timbers

are composite products that use wood lengths, fibres and veneers along with an adhesive binder and combined under heat and pressure to produce a product.

Treating and finishing timbers

are used to protect, enhance and improve the mechanical properties of timber.

Glass

Is a hard, brittle and typically transparent amorphous* solid made by rapidly cooling a fusion of sand, soda and lime.

Polymers

are substances which are made up from many molecules which are formed into long chains. The differences in the way the chains bond cause the different properties in the different types of polymers.

Thermoplastics

linear chain molecules, sometimes with side bonding of the molecules but with weak secondary bonds between the chains. Thermoplastics can be heated and reformed.

Thermosets

are linear chain molecules but with strong primary bonds between adjacent polymer chains (or cross links). This gives thermosets a rigid 3D structure.

Textiles

The continuing evolution of the textiles industry provides a wide spread of applications from high performance technicaltextiles to the more traditional clothing market.

Weaving

undertaken on a machine called a loom with two distinct styles of thread which are interlaced together to form a fabric: warp and weft. Warp threads run lengthways on a piece of cloth and the weft runs across from side to side.

Knitting

process of forming fabrics by looping a single thread (by hand with slender wires or a machine provided with hooked needles)

Composites

Composites are an important material in an intensely competitive global market. New materials and technologies are being produced frequently for the design and rapid manufacture of high-quality composite products.

Scales of Production

Depends on the number of products required. Decisions on scale of production are influenced by the volume or quantities required, types of materials used to make the products and the type of product being manufactured.

One-off production

One - off production is where only one for a few specialist items are required.

Mass production

The production of large amounts of standardized products on production lines, permitting very high rates of production per worker.

Design for manufacture (DfM)

exists in almost all engineering disciplines, but differs greatly depending on the manufacturing technologies used. This practice not only focuses on the design of a product’s components, but also on quality control and assurance.

Robots

is defined as an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications.

Work envelope

The 3D space a robot can operate within, considering clearance and reach.

First generation robots

First-generation robots are a simple mechanical arm that has the ability to make precise motions at high speed.

Invention

is the process of discovering a principle which allows a technical advance in a particular field that results in a novel/new product.

Intellectual Property (IP)

A legal term for intangible property such as "creations ofthe mind" such as inventions and designs that are used in a commercial setting.

Innovation

The business of putting an invention in the marketplace and making it a success.

Product Champion

An influential individual, usually working within an organization, who develops enthusiasm for a particular idea or invention and “champions” it within the organization.

Entrepreneur

An influential individual who can take an invention to market, often by financing the development, production and diffusion of a product into the marketplace.

Product life cycle

Designers need to consider the whole product cycle of potential products, services and systems throughout the design cycle and beyond.

Roger's Characteristics of innovation and consumers

Innovations take time to diffuse into a target audience that relies heavily on human capital.

Target markets

When determining the target market, market sectors and segments need to be identified.

Target audiences

When determining the target audience, characteristics of the users should be established.

Design Classic

A design classic is an industrially manufactured object with timeless aesthetic value.

ubiquitous

A classic design often has a constant presence, or omnipresence, in a rapidly changing context.