Using the field flow design methodology to create safe consumer products

Abstract

Energy powered devices often contain sufficient energy levels to require safety considerations. These are typically addressed in latter design phases through failure and safety assessments and mitigation strategies, after the concept is determined and design freedom is restricted. We introduce here an approach to consider safety in the early, initial conceptual design phases. We do this by considering the energy and material flow fields necessary for a design concept, and the effects these fields have. With this understanding, partitioning metrics can produce relative field layouts that can be used as a basis for new product concepts. The objective is to reduce user injury and material waste..