Next Generation Device Design & Manufacture

下一代设备设计与制造是一个跨学科的课题，源于一系列研究领域，包括增材制造（AM），分子科学，物联网（IoT），机电一体化和认知计算。因此，这一主题影响的多样性要求知识和研究思想的交叉授粉，以发展和扩大其应用。构建下一代智能和连接设备的进步将涉及设计和生产的自动化增强，传感和致动精度的提高，以及连接设备（例如，物联网），所有这些都将成为建筑、医疗保健、制造、娱乐和消费品等广泛领域新变化的关键因素。这将最终改变我们生活和体验环境的方式。对下一代智能设备的研究旨在克服设计、生产和控制方面的几个障碍。例如，增材制造（例如，目前，3D打印技术面临着明显的挑战，限制了该技术的全面可用性，例如质量不一致，最终用途的多功能性有限，以及依赖设计师或计算机辅助设计（CAD）技术人员将数据从计算机传输到打印机。这些限制导致增材制造成本高，需要专业劳动力，使得3D打印机无法进入普通大众。面向下一代智能设备的实用战略在于增加智能设备从设计到产品交付的过渡阶段和操作阶段的软件和硬件创新。这些创新可能包括以下内容：1。增加了参数化和自动化方法的可用性，以利用数字传感器的输入进行设计（例如，3D扫描、计算机视觉）。这降低了没有计算机建模背景的人使用设计工具的障碍。它还使设计工具能够识别用户的身体参数和环境信息，从而通过计算机辅助工程的结合为AM定制设计。AM的扩展多功能性，其中3D打印部件能够改变其材料特性，物理形状和导电性，以适应所需的特定任务。这也意味着复杂的3D打印部件可以作为传统制造材料的无缝延伸，而无需机械固定或电线的帮助。传感器网络和设备的连接性得到扩展，并且这些设备与集中式通信系统的独立性得到提高。这将允许设备在稀疏基础设施的区域中执行，通过自己的情境和空间感知自主操作，并直接与其他物联网设备进行通信。本博士的目的是首先确定从设计到产品交付和操作的过程链中的这些松散的发展，然后提出新的想法，提高这一技术的可及性，扩大其积极的应用。基于本研究的特点，其主要重点不是为最终用户构建设计产品，而是测试不同的新颖想法，这些想法有助于整个设备设计系统的进步，并在研究过程中实现有希望的技术输出。这个发现和测试想法的过程可以在以下阶段进行：-快速原型：在短时间内进行测试，目的是设计现有机器，基础设施或软件的扩展或插件-概念验证：测试原型并分析其结果以评估想法的有效性-反馈-构建阶段

Next generation device design & manufacture is an interdisciplinary subject that stems from a range of research areas, including additive manufacturing (AM), molecular science, Internet of Things (IoT), mechatronics and cognitive computing. The subject's diversity of influences hence requires the cross-pollination of knowledge and research ideas to develop and expand its applications. Advancements in building the next generation of intelligent and connected devices will involve enhanced automation of design and production, increased precision in sensing and actuation, and improved monitoring and control of connected devices (e.g., IoT), all of which will be key contributors to new changes in a wide range of sectors such as construction, healthcare, manufacturing, entertainment and consumer products. This will ultimately transform the way we live and experience our environments.Research into the next generation of intelligent devices seeks to overcome several barriers across design, production and control. For instance, additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing) currently exhibits clear challenges that limit the full usability of the technology, such as inconsistent quality, limited multifunctionality for end-use and reliance on a designer or a computer-aided design (CAD) technician to transfer data from computers to printers. These limitations contribute to the high cost of AM and its need for specialist labour, making 3D printers inaccessible to the general public.A practical strategy towards next generation intelligent devices lies in increasing software and hardware innovation for both the transitional stages - from design to product delivery - and the operation stage of intelligent devices. Such innovations may include the following:1. Increased availability of parametric and automated approaches to design with inputs from digital sensors (e.g., 3D scanning, computer vision). This lowers the barrier to using design tools for people with no background in computer modelling. It also enables design tools to recognise a user's bodily parameters and environmental information, allowing for bespoke designs ready for AM through their incorporation of computer-aided engineering.2. Expanded multifunctionality of the AM, wherein 3D printed parts have the ability to change their material character, physical shape and conductivity to suit the specific tasks required. This also means that complex 3D printed parts can serve as seamless extensions to traditionally fabricated materials without the aid of mechanical fixing or wires.3. Expanded connectivity of sensor networks and devices, as well as increased independence of such devices from centralised communication systems. This would allow devices to perform in areas of sparse infrastructure, operate autonomously via their own situational and spatial awareness, and communicate directly with other IoT devices.The purpose of this PhD is first to identify these loose developments within the chain of processes from design to product delivery and operation, then to propose novel ideas that improve the accessibility of this technology and expand its positive applications.MethodologyConsidering the time frame for the study and the practice-based character of this research, its primary focus is not to construct designed products for end users but rather to test different, novel ideas that contribute to the advancement of the overall device design system and achieve promising technical outputs during the research process. This process of finding and testing ideas can be carried out in the following phases:- Rapid prototyping: conduct tests in a short period of time with the purpose of designing an extension or plugin to an existing machine, infrastructure or software- Proof of concept: testing prototype and analysing its outcomes to assess validity of idea- Feedback- Build phase