Extreme Product-Service Innovation 2018/19 completed

Extreme Product-Service Innovation 2018/19 completed

Students in the MSc programmes in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management and Engineering have completed their final product-service innovation projects in the course Extreme Product-Service Innovation. The students have been working on different challenges relating to construction equipment and health care in projects that are aimed at allowing the students to use their engineering skills and tools “In Real Life” with real corporate partners, thus preparing them for their coming work life.

Extreme Product-Service Innovation class 2018/19.

The Projects

This year’s challenges have come from Region Blekinge (formerly County Council Blekinge), Blue Science Park, Dynapac and Volvo Construction equipment. A major focus has been on how to design and enable future concepts for health care and construction respectively, given that more capabilities for digitalization are becoming available.

Blue Science Park

The focus of this project has been on increased independence and wellbeing for people who are in need of increased assistance but still not eligible for full home care initiatives. Some solutions can be attractive enough and make people’s lives better so that they want to consume the solutions (whether it’s products and/or services) privately. Based on needfinding, the students have come up with a solution called C-Connect that consists of a watch band that has sensors and a button. The sensors will monitor information regarding a person’s health status. The information that will be monitored is body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood oxygen. The button will be an emergency button, that the seniors can use to contact someone when needed. Coupled with this the students have developed an app that supports the integration with different stakeholders.

C-Connect solution.

Region Blekinge

The focus of the two Region Blekinge projects was on Mobile Teams and enabling the Care Ward to be in the patients’ homes. With this approach, the idea is both to make better use of resources and also to make care better in quality and more comfortable for the patients who should not need to go to the hospital unless it is absolutely necessary.

With the Mobile teams project created a platform that supports the mobile teams in planning and management of the activities that move out of the hospital. By streamlining multiple processes and collecting all activities under one combined platform the concept will increase both efficiency and patient’s desirability. The solution combines capabilities in logistics, data collection, and digital communication within a smart and easy to use the platform.

Mobile teams interface.

With the Care Ward at Home project, the students have devised a concept called LARM, which is a system of sensors that collect data from the user and communicate to the user via an app. The data is also sent to a monitoring center at the hospital that evaluates the results. By alleviating the patients from having to go to the hospital and instead of remaining in their homes, there is more space cleared up at the hospital for the patients who are more in emergency conditions instead.

LARM interface.

Dynapac

The challenge of the Dynapac projects was to look into the concept of total compaction control. Today customers are offered a range of solutions to support the work before, during and after the work cycle. Although it’s found to be useful by some customers, Dynapac wants to overcome some of the cumbersome aspects of not having a seamless solution that is tailored to all aspects of the compaction. A major part of both teams’ work has been to analyze the needs of users in different aspects of the compaction process. The idea is to look into concepts that can be used when prospecting their work before they begin and help in selecting the right machine, or a combination of machines, for the job. Then during the compaction, it is about making sure that the right quality and efficiency is achieved. Finally, in the end, it is important to also record the outcome of the work and to keep a good overview of the status of the fleet of machines at their disposal.

The first concept is called Dramware which is a tool that takes the user all the way from the first machine selection, through the production stage and delivers documentation to the client in an up to date form. Combine and connect the different support systems onto one, unique and user-friendly tool.

DRAMWARE interface.

The second concept is also an idea for an integrated app that is called Dyn@stint, which is a tool that takes the user all the way from the first machine selection, through the production stage and delivers documentation to the client in an up-to-date form during the compaction processes. The tool should combine and connect the different support systems into one unique and user-friendly tool.

Dyn@stint interface.

Volvo Construction Equipment

The challenge for the two Volvo Construction teams was to design and develop solutions where drivers and stakeholders in construction can make use of all the data that the machines produce or will be about to produce in the future. The teams have developed concepts of mobile apps that provide the operators with capabilities for supporting their jobs.

The first concept is an application for mobile phones, computers, and pads that shows relevant data that are easy to interpret. The app offers a customizable interface and functions such as GPS map, machine system overview, and messaging. The app facilitates the work of the machine operator by displaying informative data easy to interpret and to take action from. With sensors telling the app when, for example, the hydraulics are under too much pressure, or when different parts need replacing, the machine´s service life is increased, as well as it´s efficiency. The apps storage of data can be viewed by sites around the world, and with the messenger, it is easy for the different sites to connect and share knowledge and problems.

The second concept, the Volvo CE Eco Points app, is an application that makes the planning and organizing of the workday, fun and efficient. Spend less time running around trying to get a grip of your workplace. Instead, have fun improving your driving skills, unlock the full potential of your Volvo machine before your workday starts by visualizing your work and worksite. The app will make planning easier for everybody involved, give a visual overview of the current work site, and help the operators to develop their driving skills.

About Extreme PSS Innovation

Students from Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management programs are collaborating on extreme innovation projects where a novel combination of products and services are devised to satisfy users’ and customers’ needs. The Extreme PSS Innovation course is essentially one of the last courses the students undertake before moving into the real world and commencing their Master Theses. Here they have the opportunity to practice and explore their skills and knowledge they’ve learned throughout their first four years of education in real development projects with industrial partners, solving their problems as an engineer would do.

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