Breaking free from the unsustainable now

This paper challenges the traditional concept of 'the product' in our contemporary addictive consumer society and embarks on an interdisciplinary journey to design a way to break free from what we argue is the unsustainable now. This may be achieved by taking the product's perspective and placing it in a wider sustainable context where deeper aspects of value, meaning and use can be explored. By utilising ecological system dynamics including; adaptability, interconnectedness, rhythm and flexibility we seek to move beyond mechanistic design approaches and embrace a deeper and more ecological view of sustainable design. We provide initial research findings from an experimental sustainable product design project in which these concepts are embedded and explored and we conclude by speculating on forward strategies aimed at furthering change and action for designers and educators moving towards a truly sustainable society

Hand Motion and Gesture Control of Laboratory Test Equipment Using the Leap Motion Controller

In this paper, the design and development of a system to provide hand motion and gesture control of laboratory test equipment is considered and discussed. The Leap Motion controller is used to provide an input to control a laboratory power supply as part of an electronic circuit experiment. By suitable hand motions and gestures, control of the power supply is provided remotely and without the need to physically touch the equipment used. As such, it provides an alternative manner in which to control electronic equipment via a PC and is considered here within the field of human computer interaction (HCI)

Resilience in a Convivial Society: Some Possible Innovations, Activities and Opportunities for Design

Much is changing in the world; our society, economy, attitude to ecology and our way of living is being redefined. In this, design will and must redefine itself to remain relevant and of value. This paper will explore the values of resilience (Ward & Dixon 2007) and conviviality (Illich 1973) for designing in a society in transformation. It will, furthermore, seek to determine the role of the Designer as Citizen (Margolin 2008) working in the flow of our changing society. It will propose, as an innovative context for designing, the notion of the experienced environment as a way to re-connect these values. It will propose the prospect of a more holistic attitude in the designer of empathy, humility and respect when engaged in design activities with a wider audience than that currently experienced by our profession. In manifesting and discussing these values and their related contexts the paper will draw upon analysis and reflection of recently completed projects where these issues are being explored through tangible design engagements with community and society. Furthermore, this paper will propose an outline of some evolved coherent elements of a new educational approach; the intention being to add to the wider debate in enabling significant potential for growth and adaption for design activity thereby creating value, of an innovative nature, in designing for transformation in and with our changing society and also encouraging the creation of new opportunities for design and the potential for the designer as citizen

Operational Amplifier Design in CMOS at Low-Voltage for Sensor Input Front-End Circuits in VLSI Devices

Today, digital circuit cores provide the main circuit implementation approach for integrated circuit (IC) functions in very-large-scale integration (VLSI) circuits and systems. Typical functions include sensor signal input, data storage, digital signal processing (DSP) operations, system control and communications. Despite the fact that a large portion of the circuitry may be developed and implemented using digital logic techniques, there is still a need for high performance analogue circuits such as amplifiers and filters that provide signal conditioning functionality prior to sampling into the digital domain using an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) for analogue sensor signals. The demands on the design require a multitude of requirements to be taken into account. In this chapter, the design of the operational amplifier (op-amp) is discussed as an important circuit within the front-end circuitry of a mixed-signal IC. The discussion will focus on the design of the op-amp using different compensation schemes incorporating negative Miller compensation and designed to operate at lower power supply voltage levels. A design case study is included which utilises the g m /I D ratio design approach to determine the transistor sizes. The simulation approach is focussed on the open-loop frequency response performance of the op-amp

Rail-To-Rail Output Op-Amp Design with Negative Miller Capacitance Compensation

In this paper, a two-stage op-amp design is considered using both Miller and negative Miller compensation techniques. The first op-amp design uses Miller compensation around the second amplification stage, whilst the second op-amp design uses negative Miller compensation around the first stage and Miller compensation around the second amplification stage. The aims of this work were to compare the gain and phase margins obtained using the different compensation techniques and identify the ability to choose either compensation technique based on a particular set of design requirements. The two op-amp designs created are based on the same two-stage rail-to-rail output CMOS op-amp architecture where the first stage of the op-amp consists of differential input and cascode circuits, and the second stage is a class AB amplifier. The op-amps have been designed using a 0.35mm CMOS fabrication process