Design News has a highly creative, intelligent, and innovative audience.
The more I read and respond to comments on the stories posted on our site, the more impressed I am with you, our readers, and your knowledge. Many audience members not only have theoretical knowledge in the areas they've trained in to track down problems, but also the kind of practical, hands-on experience that makes it possible to fix washing machines or re-engineer a lawnmower. We see both in the Sherlock Ohms and Made by Monkeys columns.
But I also see readers make creative, interesting comments on posts that go beyond immediate concerns, along the lines of "what would happen if you combined this feature or technology over here to solve a design problem with that entirely different other product class over there." For instance, in my recent article, 3D Printing & Robots at MD&M West, a thread started during a discussion about Rethink Robotics' Baxter, mentioned in the article as being designed from the ground up to be safer around humans. Readers were discussing various methods of making robots sense that a human was present or nearby, not a part to be picked up, so the robot would not run into the human or harm them in any way.
One reader commented:
I wonder if the flesh-sensing technology used in saws (i.e. table saws) would be able to be integrated into the 'skin' of a robot to help it identify humans. Since the saw companies are resisting using the technology, perhaps the robot industry would be able to incorporate it.
That kind of cross-platform creative thinking reminded me of the best of Silicon Valley-style innovation, which is where we got the now overused, but once illuminating, phrase "thinking outside the box."
As it turned out, other readers chimed in with some experience about that SawStop technology and the result is it may not make sense for robots. But that's important to know. It's especially helpful to know why, so engineers can make up their own minds and decide if the trade-offs are worthwhile, or if perhaps the technology could be applied in other designs.
For example, one reader said the SawStop technology has a sensing mechanism that wouldn't work around humans, an expensive reset process, and a tendency toward false stops. Another said SawStop has licensing fees, presumably expensive ones, and pointed out one reason it may not have caught on in the power tool industry was the need for retooling.
What if this was an idea that would work in this application? Maybe Rethink Robotics has already thought of it, but maybe they haven't. Or maybe one of their competitors would be interested in this idea. But all the potentially great ideas like this tend to get buried on the comment boards.
So I'd like to propose a forum on Design News that focuses on innovative, problem-solving design ideas where individual engineers and companies like robot manufacturers can trade comments and suggestions like these. What do you think? What are your ideas about how this could or should work? Please give us your suggestions in the comments section below about how to pull these ideas together, and what kind of forum it should be.
Ann, this is a great idea. I, too, am impressed by the level of expertise, knowledge and creativity of our readers. To be able to leverage this in a forum would be helpful to everyone. Perhaps the forum could have topics similar to ones on the Design News site (ie, Automation and Control, Design Hardware and Software etc.) and people could submit ideas and comments, or discuss projects they're working on and seek input on design issues.
I don't think you will find businesses and companies eager to trade comments and suggestions and ideas.
To an engineer, sharing ideas is altruism. To a business it is (potentially) giving away intellectual property.
I think that fundamentally Design News is already about sharing ideas for solving design problems. Most of the articles are promoting new ideas and products. They get commented on, etc. Walah! You already have what you are proposing to make!
ttemple, thanks for your feedback. The whole point of this idea is that although we do gets lots of comments of this kind, they're hard to find within all these threads and some not even germane to the topic of the article they're attached to. I also think it should be primarily engineer-focused, and if companies want to participate, great, but they're not likely to be the main users, although their individual engineers might.
Ann, I think you're onto something but the question is how to introduce topics for specific comment that would be more effective than the current model without getting so general that it degrades and loses focus.
Companies desire to sell good ideas, not give them away. Once an idea is developed and protected, this is an excellent forum for introducing products. Many of the articles here are product introduction type articles.
I think engineers should be careful about what they post on this type of outlet, especially if it could be considered intellectual property of their employer. I frequently post opinions and thoughts on experiences from my past lives, but I wouldn't divulge anything that might compromise the competitive position of my employer, or might be construed as intellectual property. I also try not to divulge information that I would not have been allowed to share from old employers.
Many engineers are forced to sign confidentiality agreements, etc., which are designed to prevent a company from bleeding intellectual property.
Al, all good points. I suspect we might need to monitor and moderate the discussions a bit so they're more focused than what happens here on the comments page.
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