Product development and design of industrial sensors

Abstract: IoT- technology, Internet of Things, is a fast-growing business, it means that more and more products, clothes, even people are provided with sensors that can communicate and perceive the surroundings to create a smarter community. For companies to keep up to date, it is essential to continuously provide products with better components and reduced size. To stand out further, companies should provide revolutionary products, with totally new feature. One of these ideas, of a new kind of product with special features, have been investigated and developed in this thesis. The thesis has been conducted with the company CombiQ, located in Jönköping, Sweden. The product that was going to be developed was an industrial sensor, that uses the technology of IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, that the company develops. At the time when this project took place, CombiQ did not sell any own product, only the technology that was placed inside the products. To develop the industrial sensor for CombiQ, not only the functions of the product had to be investigated, further the brand had to be analyzed to create a design expression reflecting the company. Through implement several tools and methods, from among other things the product development process and design thinking, a concept of an industrial sensor is presented that fulfill the specific requirements and functions. Where the main-feature is that the sensor should be a modular solution to be adjusted for the specific need of the clients. Furthermore, during the project a visual brand language with design guidelines have been developed to reflect the design aspects of the company CombiQ. Design guidelines can be used for further product for the company in the same manners, which also has been displayed by developing design concept of the rest of the industrial sensor that counts to the same product family as the modular sensor.