Design students highlighted work on new sensors
IN The Flow Project working Acconeer, MiThings and Sensative together to create a sensor to measure traffic flows using four units of Acconeer's radar chip. The four devices are placed next to each other in an arc shape, making the sensor well adapted to determine the speed of pedestrian users and cyclists. After the summer, the group hopes to have a prototype ready for on-site testing in a traffic environment.
LTH-the students at Industrial Design/Design in Business were tasked in the spring of 2023 to make the design for the sensor. Some of the basic requirements were that it should be able to withstand both rain and dust, be able to be attached to a pole and be powered by solar cells. It was also important to create the ability to adjust the angle of the sensor in order for it to measure correctly and to make it easy to perform maintenance. In addition, of course, costs would be kept down. To reduce the risk of vandalism, the sensor could be placed slightly up on a pole, but the students also thought about how the sensor could be more difficult to detect or be attached with hidden mounts.
The design students were divided into three groups and all groups came up with good and elaborate solutions. From the presentations, there were some approaches and ideas that may well inspire details in the finished product. One of the groups had a very good solution to facilitate care. Their Darth Vader-like sensor does not need to be mounted down from the pole for maintenance, but all contents are included when lifting the lid. Group two had several different solutions to make the sensor fit into the environment, including by making it round and thus being able to add something that adds extra value to the back of the sensor, such as an insect hotel or a wifi hotspot. The third group had an interesting solution in which you do not need to angle the entire sensor, but simply point the panel with the radar chip at the right angle. Another idea was to attach the sensor to poles with the same equipment that Lund Municipality uses for its signs and to have removable sides with the possibility of artistic embellishments.
Per Kristav, the students' supervisor and course manager for the course, was pleased with the results.
- Here were several innovative ideas and I will not be surprised if the company finds something to bring to production,” he says. Often it can be a single idea that makes the difference for the company.
What is it like to work with near real-life examples for students?
- For us at LTH it is important to concretize and it becomes more concrete for the students if you work on a real project from a company instead of us coming up with a project. We want students to see what awaits them when they are finished and therefore we think they should get to test working with industry in a similar way to a design agency.
Finding collaborations with students at the university can be a good way to bring new knowledge into an innovation project.
- In the FLOW project, many actors who are specialists in IoT work together, says Anders Trana, project manager for FLOW. It is very valuable for us to get the ideas and suggestions of the design students because they can have a different approach than we often have in the project. I think they came up with several interesting proposals that could very well be part of the finished product.
The two companies MiThings and DivM will further work on the students' solutions and possibly also print the intended shells in a 3D printer.
The Flow project is funded by IoT Sweden. Participates in the project AXIS Communications, Lund Municipality, Sensative, Mobile Heights, California, MiThings, Future by Lund, Smart Villages, Meltspot and Acconeer. The FLOW project is made in close cooperation with the project Lund Open Sensing City, LOSC, which is funded by Vinnova. In LOSC, Axis Communications is, AFRY, The power ring, Lund University, Mobile Heights, Sensative, Sony, Telia and Trivecteur Trafic Enrolled project partners.
