Virtual Prototyping

The objective of the course is to learn how to use Virtual Prototyping (VP) to support design engineering activities and decision-making. The increasing complexity of products and systems requires that engineers already in early product development make several design choices whose impact can be difficult to predict and which can result in high costs and delays later in development. Designing innovative, interactive, and sustainable products often requires engineers and customers to explore both the problem space and solution space together. Traditionally, this is an expensive and time-consuming activity that requires the development of physical prototypes to test and compare design alternatives. Yet there is a limit to both variability and timeliness in this exploration. With the advent of new technologies and computing capacity, mixed reality tools offer the opportunity to experience and validate solutions, evaluate their effectiveness, and anticipate possible errors and side effects. However, their use is not trivial: it requires expertise in the use of prototyping software and hardware and knowledge of the specific application. 
The overall goal with the course is to give the students an overview of VP tools, methods, and background, also through experience in planning and implementing a VP case study to support decision-making in product development. Students will develop insights and skills to make their product development more efficient and effective while improving sustainability aspects. In addition, students experience the widened range of factors traditionally prioritized in engineering disciplines.