A Traditional Approach to 3D Printing

Product Design has, since the 1980’s, developed beyond the remit of the traditional realisation of the object or product. That is Design is seen as a problem identification and solution methodology which can be applied to several contexts and needs (1). However there is still a need to be able to understand and realise an object. That is the knowledge of materials and how they are processed into components. Also in the last few years the possibilities for rapid prototyping and manufacture through 3D printing machines has become financially possible and creatively opens up new possibilities. Objects can be manufactured which were impossible a few years ago. We have taken a pragmatic approach which utilises the possibilities of 3D Printing to understand the complexity of manufacture through a design and build project. Whereas most student projects conclude with propositions few are carried through to validation. Although the more engineering based programmes do built and test prototypes, complexities of design for manufacture are usually left unresolved. Students are challenged to design, manufacture and assemble a working model of an Alarm Clock. Each component has to be designed against an understanding of a material and production process and then prototyped on a SD Printer. The final product is then assembled from these prototype components. Within this construct students learn about component design and product assemble while also negotiating the compromises needed between design and manufacture. There is rigour in the realisation of the final working models. The paper concludes with a reflection of the value of this project against the learning curve of student experience as a training for the product design profession. 1.T of Design, UK Design CouncilPeer reviewe

Understanding through Making

Julian Lindley, Richard Adams, Stephen McGonigal, John Beaufoy, ‘Understanding through Making’, paper presented at the International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education, University of Twente, The Netherlands, 4-5 July, 2014.The core theme of the paper is incorporating an empirical approach in the understanding of object value(s) within Product Design. It is a reaction too and an acknowledgement of the changing nature of both the students previous experiences and the value of design to the modern world. With the former, applicants lack the breadth of basic skills in drawing, making and experimentation. Indeed many lack a curiosity which is natural to design. This is in part due to the diminishing number of applicants from Foundation Courses in Art and Design (United Kingdom). These pre-degree courses encourage experimentation and play in understanding materials and structures. Another observation is that design has progressed beyond the production of artefacts to a process of problem identification and solving (1). In this context Sustainability, Brand and Human Centred Design are all common themes within design curricula. However focussing on these in an already congested curriculum has left some of the basic skills and investigations lacking in students vocabulary and skills within design. The paper outlines a way in which an understanding of structures and objects can be achieved. Two projects are cited, the first a project which gets students to think with their hands and make quickly. In essence the project is about the deconstruction and re-constructing of chairs. Based on the work of Martino Gamper (2), students are challenged to make new chairs using discarded and broken chairs as source material. Within this construct issues of material and object value can be discussed as well as product lifetime, product evolution and second life. The second project builds on this experience with a mechanical design challenge, that of an Automata. With this project students start investigating on paper but quickly need to develop with simple mechanical mock ups both in 2D and 3D. The combination of these projects amongst others equips students with a preliminary understanding of construction, mechanics, materials and aesthetics. This is a starting point for understanding the physicality of artefacts underpinning Product Design Education. 1. RSA Design & Society Social Animals: tomorrow’s designers in today’s world by Sophia Parker. P19, 2009 2. 100 Chairs in 100 DaysPeer reviewe

Autonomous real-time object detection and identification

Sensor devices are regularly used on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as reconnaissance and intelligence gathering systems and as support for front line troops on operations. This platform provides a wealth of sensor data and has limited computational power available for processing. The objective of this work is to detect and identify objects in real-time, with a low power footprint so that it can operate on a UAV. An appraisal of current computer vision methods is presented, with reference to their performance and applicability to the objectives. Experimentation with real-time methods of background subtraction and motion estimation was carried out and limitations of each method described. A new, assumption free, data driven method for object detection and identification was developed. The core ideas of the development were based on models that propose that the human vision system analyses edges of objects to detect and separate them and perceives motion separately, a function which has been modelled here by optical flow. The initial development in the temporal domain combined object and motion detection in the analysis process. This approach was found to have limitations. The second iteration used a detection component in the spatial domain that extracts texture patches based on edge contours, their profile, and internal texture structure. Motion perception was performed separately on the texture patches using optical flow. The motion and spatial location of texture patches was used to define physical objects. A clustering method is used on the rich feature set extracted by the detection method to characterise the objects. The results show that the method carries out detection and identification of both moving and static objects, in real-time, irrespective of camera motion

Approaches for assessing the impacts of the Rural Development Programmes in the context of multiple intervening factors

The Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF) provides a single framework for monitoring and evaluation of all EU Rural Development Programmes (RDP) in the current programming period (2007-2013). It provides continuity from previous periods and constitutes a significant simplification as regards assessment of results and impacts, while at the same time offering greater flexibility to Member States. The European Evaluation Network for Rural Development has published a Working Paper on Approaches for assessing the impacts of the Rural Development Programmes in the context of multiple intervening factors. The aim of the Working Paper is to inspire and to encourage programme evaluators, not to restrict or constrain them. From a methodological perspective, the three common socio-economic impact indicators of the CMEF (economic growth, employment creation, labour productivity) are more closely related than the four common environmental impact indicators (reversing biodiversity decline, maintenance of High Nature Value faming and forestry, improvement in water quality, contribution to combating climate change).assessment of impacts, Rural Development Programmes, policy evaluation, EU policy, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Time to look for evidence : Results-based approach to biodiversity conservation on farmland in Europe

Increased use of annual payments to land managers for ecological outcomes indicates a growing interest in exploring the potential of this approach. In this viewpoint, we drew on the experiences of all schemes paying for biodiversity outcomes/results on agricultural land operating in the EU and EFTA countries with the aim of reviewing the decisive elements of the schemes' design and implementation as well as the challenges and opportunities of adopting a results-based approach. We analysed the characteristics of results-based schemes using evidence from peer-reviewed literature, technical reports, scheme practitioners and experts in agri-environment-climate policy. We developed a typology of the schemes and explored critical issues influencing the feasibility and performance of results-based schemes. The evidence to date shows that there are at least 11 advantages to the results-based approach not found in management-based schemes with similar objectives, dealing with environmental efficiency, farmers' participation and development of local biodiversity-based projects. Although results-based approaches have specific challenges at every stage of design and implementation, for many of these the existing schemes provide potential solutions. There is also some apprehension about trying a results-based approach in Mediterranean, central and eastern EU Member States. We conclude that there is clear potential to expand the approach in the European Union for the Rural Development programming period for 2021-2028. Nevertheless, evidence is needed about the approach's efficiency in delivering conservation outcomes in the long term, its additionality, impact on the knowledge and attitudes of land managers and society at large, development of ways of rewarding the achievement of actual results, as well as its potential for stimulating innovative grassroots solutions.Peer reviewe

Aspects of data on diverse relationships between agriculture and the environment

The main objectives presented in the report are: 1) To examine data gaps in the field of ecologically valuable grasslands and land at risk of abandonment by gathering existing data and making recommendations on how the gaps might best be filled to underpin the present and future policy process in these fields 2) To gather existing data and providing best/less good practice examples in relation to the environmental impacts of afforestation in agricultural lands in order to underpin the present and future policy process and environmental policy objectives 3) To find and present best/less good practice examples in relation to optimal design and management of riparian buffer strips in the context of environmental policy objectives