Abstract:

The curriculum of the Degree in Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería del Diseño (ETSID) includes introductory subjects on electricity and electronics (e.g.: Physics, in the first course, and Electric-Electronic Technology in the second course). Nowadays, most of the new product designs incorporate electronics or optoelectronics to a greater or lesser extent providing functionality, versatility or even aesthetics to the new designs.

In this paper, a new optional subject is suggested for the third course dealing with the potential integration of electronics in the new designs of the products and studying fundamental aspects such as isolations, protections, security, laws and regulations.

The suggested subject is called Integrated Electronics in Product Design and it also includes attractive contents regarding electronic technology and principles of robotics. In this sense, units are designed with attractive names, for instance Unit 2 “What’s inside a washing machine?” analyzing the most important components of the electronic systems (power supply, switches, relays, motors, control circuits, etc.). This subject gives an electronic technical approach to the students but also taking into consideration the consumer and designer points of view.