The Design Technology Blog

Author: BSeely

  • Planned Obsolescence

    Planned Obsolescence is when a product is designed to become obsolete rapidly with the release of a new model of the product or a completely new product all together. Companies that use this design technique will usually have a set date of when the product they just released will become obsolete and have a newer and better model already made. This technique and the idea that newer is better is what causes people to constantly upgrade and buy new products. It keeps the market moving which effects the wallet of the consumer but planned obsolescence also effects the environment.

    Products designed for obsolescence tend to be made with a more green design as they are meant to be thrown out. The product also tends to be less durable as the product isn’t supposed to last long anyways. manufacturing the product is also made as cheap as possible sacrificing quality. All of this effects the environment in its own way, factories and plants give off a lot of pollution to make these products faster and cheaper. Products are made with different materials which have to be obtained in different ways which are usually harmful to the environment even though they may be green materials. Finally the lack of durability means that the product will break easily and be thrown away contributing to landfills.

  • Ergopod 500

            This is the Ergopod 500. A ergonomic work station for computers. It has a completely adjustable design for working in standing sitting or reclined position. The Monitor panel can pivot up to 55 degrees and the keyboard panel can pivot up to 90 for use in any position.It can support up to 400lbs of equipment 80lbs of which can be held by the monitor panel. The legs are also height adjustable allowing for most furniture to go underneath the desk. All of these adjustable features are controlled from the keyboard for ease of use.

    This design is ergonomically sound because it allows for use by people of all body types and heights and is made to optimize comfort and relieve stress on the body during extended work on the computer. This can save people from health problems that can be associated with this type of work such as hunches and reduced circulation in the arms and legs. Body tolerances also become less of a problem because if you tire in one position the simple click of a button and you are inclined or reclined to change the places that your body is being stressed.

  • Fly Spy

      This is Harvards newly developed robot bee.It is about 1.5 cm long and was built with the intelligence community in mind. The Bee is equipped with a small camera or recording device that can be used to gather information completely unnoticed. This eliminates the need for traditional information gathering techniques used by organisations such as the CIA or MI6 in foreign countries keeping actual spies out of danger. This has raised some controversy however, due to this new robots ability to go unnoticed people are worried that the governments in control of these Bees would use them to watch and listen to regular people.
    While a disturbing thought it will be a while before any of this could happen. The robot is currently flawed, as it is unbalanced during flight and has a need to be connected to a external power source for any flight longer than a couple of minutes. Harvard students and scientists are currently working on a new and improved version of the Bee robot to fix all of these flaws and when they’re finished I believe that these robots could be very useful in the field of intelligence and attain information useful to national security.

  • Smart Skis

    smart skis are skis that utilize piezoelectric materials to reduce rough vibrations in the skis. Piezoelectric materials are materials that react to bending or change in structure by emitting a electrical charge. When vibration occurs in the ski the piezoelectric material creates a small electrical current that is sent do a logic circuit that  induces the movement of the material in the opposing direction in relation to the vibrations effectively and quickly cancelling them out.

     

    This technology cannot help the world in skis alone but with this idea of vibration reduction  vehicles and other products that normally undergo a lot of stress can have that stress reduced possibly allowing for use of slightly weaker but more eco friendly materials.