The design projects discussed in this paper were carried out as graduation projects in the years 2006 to 2008. The projects were carried out in the master Integrated Product Design which is focused on the product development from product idea to a production ready product design. The project duration was approximately 6 months. Due to this limitation not all details of the product design could be worked out and the designers set priorities on which details are most important within the project. Also due to the dime limitation, the projects ended when the product designs were in or at the end of the third phase. The projects are discussed in chronological order.

3.1. Pupil Locator

The pupil locator is to be used for children’s ski classes to avoid that pupils get lost or too far away from the group. The pupil locator works with a device worn by the pupils that communicates its location to the instructor’s handheld device. Additionally the pupils can call for help; the instructor sees their location on the handheld device and can easily find them back. The pupil’s device had to be solar powered. The main design challenges for the product were to select a suitable energy efficient technology, to select an appropriate way for the pupils to carry the device and PV cells with them and to incorporate the electronics and PV modules in the product in such a way that comfort of wearing, maintenance and reliability of the system were optimal. The final design is a vest (see figure 4) incorporating the electronics and four PV panels. The panels are attached and electrically connected with metal press-studs. They can be easily replaced when broken, or reused for another vest. Although the PV panels are rigid, the flexibility of the vest is maintained by using four panels instead of one.