Module: (ADM303) Design for Change
Year: 2006-2007
Semester: 1
Tutors: Stuart Neil
Date Issued: 13/02/07
Completion: 09/03/07
Student name: Nigel Whitbread
Student number: ST06000671
Email address: nigelwhitbread@yahoo.co.uk
Design for Change Design Report
Introduction
After initially looking at GPS and PDA technology, and how it could be used in the future for space tourism (Virgin will be providing flights into space within 3 years) I decided to look how this technology could be used in spacesuits. But instead of just concentrating on this I decided to examine how this technology could be used at the moment on earth instead of in space, on the moon, or on Mars.
My design concept is a helmet to be used by sports enthusiasts, motorcyclists, parachutists, paragliders, hang gliders, astronauts (one day in the future) etc to provide heads up GPS data (maps, climb rate/sink rate, altitude, airspeed, waypoints, positioning) to be used for navigation and use voice recognition software and radio technology to keep it completely hands free.
At the moment if a pilot wants to maximise his understanding of how the hang glider, paraglider etc is flying he has to carry a series of instruments (avariometer, altimeter, airspeed indicators, GPS, radios) that all have to be mounted onto the control frame or strapped to the body. The same is true for motorcyclists where GPS units etc are mounted to the handlebars with all their other displays.
All these devices could be incorporated into one device that’s built into a helmet and the data can be viewed on a heads up display projected onto the inside of the visor. This would aid with making the glider/motorcycle easier to control as you would never have to take your hands of the control bar/handlebars and you would have clear audio and visual data unaffected by weather conditions, at fingertips, so to speak.
Using GPS means you’ll always know where you are which is especially useful when participating in Competitions. You’ll also be able to plot a course of where you want to fly to and prove you’ve passed certain waypoint markers. Other uses of GPS are determining high altitude wind drift, alert you to restricted airspace areas, and identifying one’s location for retrieval teams when you land in unfamiliar territory.
For the purpose of this report and the presentation of the design concept I decided to call the device VIS COM.
PEST Analysis – Political, Economic, Social, and Technological
P Competitions take part worldwide (UK, Australia, South Africa, France, Chile, Japan etc). Each country has its own associations and sports unions.
E Prize money for competitions can be as high as £3,000. To help fund equipment you could gain sponsorship from a number of different companies.
S If the costs we’re low enough it might encourage new members to participate in competitive sports.
T The advancement in visor/eye/headset displays is coming on leaps and bounds, even car manufacturers who seemed to have given up on heads up displays have started incorporating them in their latest models. The size of high tech components are becoming increasingly smaller and wires in communication devices are rapidly being replaced with wireless technologies.
Technologies to be Used in Conjunction With Each Other
A GPS (Global Positioning System) Receiver will be used to calculate the helmet wearers position by measuring the distance between 3 or more GPS satellites. Since the signal travels at a known speed, measuring the time delay between transmission and reception of each GPS radio signal gives the distance to each satellite. The signals also carry information about the satellites' location. By determining the position of, and distance to, at least three satellites, the receiver can compute its position using trilateration.
A HUD (Heads Up Display) will be created, by projecting transparent maps, up to the minute GPS data, speed and other information onto the inside of the visor by using holographic laser technology.
Speech Recognition Software will be used so that you can perform many different tasks and use various applications completely hands-free so that you’re always in control of your glider/bike. For example you could simply have the map disappear from the display by saying “map off screen” or use the radio by saying “radio on”.
A Radio for communicating with other pilots in the air, riders on the road, and for reporting back and forth with your ground/pit crew when in competition. Especially useful when pilots want to report their landing locations.
Headset and Microphone so that you will be able to use the speech recognition software and radio.
Bluetooth so that all the separate technologies will be able to communicate with each other completely wirelessly.
Touch Screen Control Panel very much like present sat nav display units but to be used primarily to plot and view journey routes pre journey but also to be used as an aid when setting up the speech recognition software to recognise your particular voice.
A CPU (Central Processing Unit) is quite simply the brains of the device and processes all of the data received and transmitted.
Summary
Taking into account the various components needed to build the VIS COM I decided to set its value at £1000
Existing Technology
Sole rider radio mike transmitter £140
Garmin ZUMO 500 GPS £450
Helmet £68 - £250
Speech recognition software £60
Sportsvue heads up display £120
Total £838 - £1020
Some of the technology that I propose to use is more advanced than what is on the market at the moment but is in development or being used by the military, so can’t really be used as a variable for pricing up the VIS COM.
I believe there is a market for a heads up display/GPS device incorporated into a helmet. Some businesses are already developing more simplistic products with limited capabilities (Sportvue) but my idea would do away other devices or if you wanted to add to it over time all you’d have to do is set it up with Bluetooth.
References
Virgin Galactic
http://www.virgingalactic.com/htmlsite/intro.htm
[Accessed 02/07]
European Space Agency (02/02/2007): The First Hiking Maps on Mars
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMOI5O2UXE_0.html
[Accessed 02/07]
Wikipedia: Global Positioning System
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
[Accessed 02/07]
Wikipedia: Head Up Display
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-Up_Display
[Accessed on 02/07]
Wikipedia: Speech Recognition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_recognition
[Accessed on 02/07]
Sportvue: Sportvue MC1
http://www.sportvue.com/store/product.php?pid=14
[Accessed on 02/07]
Myvu: Personal Media Viewer
http://www.myvu.com/
[Accessed on 02/07]
PDALive (Posted by: [meiam] (12/27/2004)): Holographic projector for your future PDA
http://www.pdalive.com/showarticle.php?threadid=7761
[Accessed on 02/07]
HowStuffWorks: How Hang Gliding Works
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/hang-gliding.htm
[Accessed on 02/07]
Wikipedia: Paragliding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paragliding
[Accessed on 02/07]
DefenseTech (22/04/2005): GPS Jumpers
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001506.html
[Accessed on 02/07]
CNN (30/09/2004): Smart helmet for motorcyclists
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/09/16/piers.tucker/index.html
[Accessed on 02/07]
British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association
http://www.bhpa.co.uk/bhpa/index.php
[Accessed on 02/07]
Garmin
http://www.garmin.com/aboutGPS/
[Accessed on 02/07]
GA Serving America: Navigating Communication
http://www.gaservingamerica.com/how_work/work_navigation.htm
[Accessed on 02/07]
