Steergard by Angard
Project Brief
In a team of 3, for Human Centred Design Engineering, we designed a product that reflects protection. My team aimed to involve car manufacturers, driving companies and professional drivers to make anti-drowsiness systems essential - for the drivers’ physical and mental wellbeing.
Role
I took a leadership role in this project, planning tasks and organising information. In the R&D stage, I was in charge of desk research, ideation, the identification of insights and opportunities. In the later Prototyping & Presentation stage, I took lead in creating the exhibition portfolio, video editing, as well as business model, branding and stakeholder analysis. As a personal extension to the project, I created an Angard webapp with a fully functional chatbot, survey and live graphing.
To the left: 3D render, teardown of Steergard
User Testing
Comfortable: Use of microfiber leather – a durable synthetic. This stems directly from user survey feedback, where this option ranked highest with an average comfort score of 9.6/10 and 9.7 for visual appeal.
Reliable: From FMEA on Solidworks, product’s durability enhanced by webbing, and sensor accuracy optimised by low-pass filtration in ECG and decomposition in grip measure. Two-hand hold supported by users through a survey, where 72.2% found two-handed drivers more reliable.
Intuitive: To most, driving is instinctive: “After my thirty years behind the wheel, driving is natural.” Steergard only requires user to drive, establishing efficiency and low human error.
On the right: Angard website (top), promotional video editing (bottom)
Final Concept
Function:
Monitor with two-sensor ECG and grip strength responsive resistor.
Alert through in-built vibration of steering wheel.
Engage re-routing in GPS if function enabled.
Form: Steergard developed for mass manufacture: components can all be injection moulded, filleted corners optimise polymer flow, and the shape has been selected to minimise material use. Also, the design is modular to fit different sensor variants and be easily disassembled.
Safety:
Following ASIL analysis, Steergard fits into the Quality Management category. Hence, ISO-16949 standard for QM systems was followed. To account for possible risks, ISO-26262, the “Road vehicles – functional safety” standard is also complied to.
To the left: 3D render, Steergard in vehicle