Editorial for the Special Issue "Requirements in Design Processes: Open Issues, Relevance and Implications"

Requirements play a key role in the design process by affecting analysis, synthesis and evaluation activities at different levels and in different ways [...

The Large-Scale Polarization Explorer (LSPE)

The LSPE is a balloon-borne mission aimed at measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at large angular scales, and in particular to constrain the curl component of CMB polarization (B-modes) produced by tensor perturbations generated during cosmic inflation, in the very early universe. Its primary target is to improve the limit on the ratio of tensor to scalar perturbations amplitudes down to r = 0.03, at 99.7% confidence. A second target is to produce wide maps of foreground polarization generated in our Galaxy by synchrotron emission and interstellar dust emission. These will be important to map Galactic magnetic fields and to study the properties of ionized gas and of diffuse interstellar dust in our Galaxy. The mission is optimized for large angular scales, with coarse angular resolution (around 1.5 degrees FWHM), and wide sky coverage (25% of the sky). The payload will fly in a circumpolar long duration balloon mission during the polar night. Using the Earth as a giant solar shield, the instrument will spin in azimuth, observing a large fraction of the northern sky. The payload will host two instruments. An array of coherent polarimeters using cryogenic HEMT amplifiers will survey the sky at 43 and 90 GHz. An array of bolometric polarimeters, using large throughput multi-mode bolometers and rotating Half Wave Plates (HWP), will survey the same sky region in three bands at 95, 145 and 245 GHz. The wide frequency coverage will allow optimal control of the polarized foregrounds, with comparable angular resolution at all frequencies.Comment: In press. Copyright 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibite

Impact of Design Representations on Creativity of Design Outcomes

Designers usually spend non-negligible efforts in performing comprehensive design space explorations, but important information exchanged in conceptual design sessions is often lost, even about the rationale behind the preferred solutions. As a part of a broader investigation concerning the impact of knowledge coming from previously performed design tasks, this paper describes an experiment aimed at assessing the impact on the design outcomes of two representations used to share existing design information. In particular, the authors compared a function structure, together with a morphological chart, against a hierarchically organized tree of problems and solutions. The design experiment has been performed with a sample composed by 35 engineering students, which have been opportunely subdivided in three groups. The experiment has been structured in three phases and the acknowledged literature metrics for assessing idea generation effectiveness have been applied to assess the design outcomes produced by students. Obtained results show that providing information with the two investigated representations leads to potential advantages in terms of Variety of devised concepts. Moreover, additional analysis of the results highlight that the considered representations lead to different idea-generation paths

Application of systematic design methods to cultural heritage preservation

The preservation of cultural heritage often involves the design of systems with different purposes, as for example the devices for extraction of data from inaccessible locations and/or demonstrative models. For the latter, when the starting information about the model to be designed is incomplete, the task is not trivial, and different interpretations of the system can lead to different design outcomes. Moreover, other requirements concerning size, materials and interactivity, make this a real engineering design task, where actors with conflicting needs can be involved. Accordingly, to ensure a comprehensive fulfilment of the task, it is possible to follow engineering systematic design approaches that, even if originally developed for the development of industrial systems, can be conveniently used for different fields of application. More specifically, these design methods ensure the design of cost-effective solutions by reducing the useless and costly design iterations that often characterize non-structured procedures. In particular, the present paper shows the application of systematic methods for the interpretation, the design and the development of realistic physical models from some of the Leonardo da Vinci’s machines, for the Museo Leonardiano of Vinci (Italy). The followed approach allowed to efficiently gather the starting list of design requirements, and to engage a successful interaction among the designers, the historians, the museum staff and the architect involved in the showroom design. The key points of the systematic design methodology are presented in this paper, together with some applicative examples from the Da Vinci’s models. Other possible application of systematic design approaches are also presented, with the aim of showing some representative examples were the Engineering design and problem-solving methods can support the preservation of cultural heritage

Problem-Solution-Network of the Leonardo Da Vinci's Glider

This is the Problem-Solution-Network generated for the Leonardo Da Vinci's glider, referenced by the work submitted in the Journal "Heritage".THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV