Padel is a rapidly growing sport with a large base of amateur players. One crucial technique for winning points, which many amateurs struggle with, is the smash. The combination of its importance and difficulty makes it a compelling topic for design innovation. The central question is: how can padel amateurs learn the smash faster?

This report describes the development and testing of a padel ball with fuzzy felt designed to improve amateur players’ smash performance. The project began with conceptualising various ideas that were based on literature research on 1) the sport padel, 2) the smash in padel, 3) biomechanics of the smash, 4) motor learning and 5) coordination. The fuzzy padel ball concept is selected due to its multidisciplinary characteristics and discovered gap in the market. It has the potential to lower ball speed when the amateur player receives a lob, providing them with more time to set up their smashes. This approach aims to improve the learning experience.

The manufacturing process of standard padel balls can in theory be modified slightly to create a fuzzier felt that covers the rubber balls. Machines are used to break the weaving structure of the felt that goes around the balls. This production step raises the fuzziness of the felt and causes an increase in drag, which slows down the ball. Going through this machine multiple times will increase the fuzz even more, something that existing padel ball companies already do to make their ball travel slightly slower through the air than their competitors. Since it was not possible to use professional rubber balls glued with fuzzier felt right away, prototypes were created using different fabrics glued to padel and tennis balls to simulate the concept.

The prototypes are used for multiple tests that investigate which of them travels slower through the air. These tests consist of a drop test (to measure the fall speed of the prototypes) and a smash test (to measure the smash performance of the best prototypes). In the smash test, nine participants received multiple lobs which they had to smash at a target mat at the other side of the net. Their smash accuracy and speed were recorded and combined to produce a smash performance score. Results showed no significant difference in smash performance between normal and fuzzy balls. However, players provided qualitative feedback on timing adjustments and perceived a slower ball speed during the lob and an increase in weight. In conclusion, padel amateurs can learn the smash faster by integrating biomechanics, motor learning, and coordination. The fuzzy felt padel ball concept provides a promising tool for achieving this, although further refinement and testing are necessary.

Future prototype development should use high-quality felt with varying fuzziness and explore different internal pressures to counteract damping effects. Glueing felt directly onto rubber balls improves prototype quality. Additionally, investigating the durability of prototypes, creating removable fuzzy covers for existing balls, and collaborating with established manufacturers could provide further insights. Another qualitative finding of this study was the psychological impact of sensory feedback. One player perceives that louder smashes are correlated with higher smash speeds, which is not the case. This aspect should be examined more closely in future research.
Future studies should refine the smash test setup, use a round target for better statistical comparisons, and engage a professional padel trainer for consistent lobs. Improved filming techniques, including slow motion and higher-quality cameras, will enhance data accuracy.
Although the primary hypotheses were not supported, the study provided valuable insights into the differences between the effect of using normal and fuzzy padel balls.

The thesis focuses on creating a solution aimed at reducing suffering in earthquake prone regions. The research done resulted in the development of Embrace, a wearable communication device designed to alleviate human suffering during seismic events in seismically active regions like Zagreb. Commencing with an exploration of challenges faced by people living in these quake affected regions, the research aimed to devise a cost-effective, visually appealing solution to these issues.
Methodologies encompassed literature reviews, interviews, cause-effect analysis, and Inside out Design approach, offering crucial insights into user needs and preferences. Following an evaluation of various design concepts, Embrace emerged as the preferred solution, aligning with project requirements.
Embrace integrates LoRa technology for long-range communication, empowering individuals to request aid during earthquakes. Its design process involved modeling with Fusion 360, 3D printing, and utilizing liquid rubber for silicone shells. Sizing considerations, ergonomic enhancements with fillets, and a hierarchy of requirements guided its development.
Future research pathways should include testing Embrace's functionality, exploring diverse shapes and materials, and investigating additional features like smartwatch integration. The thesis resulted in development of Embrace as a significant contribution to wearable technology, enhancing safety and well-being during seismic events.

Problem definition

The healthcare sector faces escalating pressure due to its current inefficient practices in digital information exchange. The Integral Care Agreement (IZA) from the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport (VWS) and overarching healthcare organizations is focused on creating a future-proof healthcare system. The Wegiz, introduced within the IZA, outlines standards for electronic data exchange among healthcare providers, with the focus on the Basic Dataset for Care (BgZ). However, the implementation of BgZ faces challenges, as insight in the influencing factors and facilitating interventions are limited.

Research outcomes

This research addresses this gap by employing literature reviews, (semi-structured) interviews, observations, and a thematic analyses within the healthcare ecosystem, specifically focused on the experience of medical specialists with the current organization of digital information exchange, to identify the factors affecting the BgZ implementation. A critical finding reveals a disconnect between macro-level legislation and micro-level healthcare practitioners, resulting in an oversight of the human aspect in decision-making and communication of changes. Furthermore, VWS encounters challenges in effectively engaging the target audience, according to medical specialists and organizational employees, leading to various disadvantages, including negative experiences with legislatively driven developments and a lack of awareness among healthcare professionals regarding BgZ and their pivotal role in the transformation. Furthermore, the limited awareness for standardization among specialists and the time and efficiency constraints are additional factors to be taken into account. Although, legislation is obliging interoperability between systems on a technical level, including the human aspect to evoke behaviour change towards standardization is currently limited. The cultural factors of the medical environment are challenging as well as autonomy and hierarchy is deeply rooted, which may influence the attitude towards change.

Design goals

The study emphasizes the need to involve healthcare professionals, starting with the first step of engaging physicians in the change process. To address this, a serious game has been developed with the primary goal of raising awareness about the urgency of BgZ implementation and encouraging active participation and collaboration by provide positive experiences of the opportunities the BgZ includes. The game, evaluated through sessions with the target audience, has proven to be an effective intervention, achieving its set objectives.

Recommendations

As a recommendation, the game should be implemented in an interdisciplinary manner, involving physicians, assistants, IT personnel, organizational staff, and policymakers. This approach aims to connect perspectives and foster collaboration. Ultimately, the game serves as a tool to bridge the gap between policymakers and healthcare practitioners by providing insights into each other’s perspectives, fostering a collective and collaborative approach towards successful BgZ implementation.

This report documents the development and evaluation of the arm swing rollator, an innovative redesign aimed at improving the safety and ergonomics of traditional rollators. Current rollators often limit natural arm movements, which are essential for stability during walking. The arm swing rollator addresses this limitation by enabling users to swing their arms naturally, mimicking a more natural gait pattern.
The project began with a review of existing rollator designs and an exploration of ergonomic and safety challenges faced by users. Literature indicates that arm swing plays a significant role in enhancing gait stability, particularly in older adults. However, minimal research exists on how rollators impact gait. The arm swing rollator was conceptualized to bridge this gap and tested experimentally for its potential benefits.
A prototype of the arm swing rollator was developed, though time constraints led to compromises in its design. Friction in the mechanism and the use of 3D-printed load-bearing components limited the prototype's performance and safety, restricting testing to young, healthy participants. To approximate the balance challenges faced by elderly users, participants wore balance distortion platforms during the tests. Stability was measured using the mediolateral Lyapunov exponent, derived from video-tracked upper body movement.
The validation tests produced unexpected results. Neither the arm swing rollator nor the traditional rollator showed significant improvements in stability compared to walking without a rollator. Possible reasons for these findings include limitations in the test setup, measurement inaccuracies, and prototype shortcomings. Despite this, participant feedback highlighted a perceived improvement in posture and support when using the arm swing rollator.
The report concludes that the arm swing rollator represents an experimental step forward in rollator design but requires further refinement and testing. Recommendations include improving the prototype’s mechanism, ensuring safety for target users, and employing more accurate testing methods such as treadmill-based experiments and inertial measurement units. Future research could also explore additional rollator features to address user needs, such as enhanced braking systems, better terrain handling, and ergonomic resting solutions.
In summary, this project provides valuable insights into rollator design and testing, highlighting the potential for innovative walking aids to improve safety and quality of life for users. The findings underscore the need for continued research and development to fully realize the benefits of the arm swing rollator and similar concepts.

In this graduation thesis, the evolution of Adidas's product development process is explored, focusing on the introduction of a Adizero footwear Fuzzy Front-End aimed at enhancing brand credibility and user experience through agile, user-centric design methods. This stage, a crucial part of the development of Adidas Adizero Footwear, prioritizes functional prototypes and utilizes athletes’ performance data to inform design before products enter the marketing phase.

An in-depth context analysis illuminates Adidas’ intricate organizational structure, brand categorization, and the history and innovative essence of the Adizero franchise. This analysis lays the groundwork for exploring the fuzzy front-end (FFE) stage, where challenges such as neglect of individual consumer needs and complexities in the initial development stages are underscored, and opportunities like well-balanced stakeholder engagement, participatory design methods, and data-enabled engagement approaches are identified.

In seeking to resolve identified challenges, novel stakeholder engagement strategies are devised, promoting dynamic understanding and interaction amongst stakeholders beyond traditional managerial definitions. Innovative tools and methods, such as the ‘Superpower Element Sticker,’ are developed to encourage co-creation and facilitate the formulation of new engagement strategies. At the same time, analyses and pilot testing sessions ensure the practical applicability of proposed solutions.

This research highlights the delineation of a novel conceptual design framework, aimed at enabling effective multi-stakeholder co-creation in the Fuzzy Front-end of Adizero Footwear. Then a new process design, based on the conceptual design framework in a co-creation workshop, integrates innovative data tunnels allowing varied stakeholders, including consumers, marketers, and developers, to actively contribute insights and refine the design throughout different seasons and stages of footwear creation. Emphasizing clarity and data visualization, this proposed framework, while innovative, necessitates strategic navigation through technological constraints and alignment with Adidas's methodologies to ensure feasibility and optimal contribution to the enhancement of the footwear design process.

In this graduation project for the start-up Dispertech, the usability and workflow of their NanoCET device is improved. The NanoCET is a research tool used in hospital and university laboratories, for which the following problem was stated: researchers and technicians working in labs have difficulty setting up and using the NanoCET device and software when conducting a measurement on the size distribution and concentration of nanoparticles. This leads to failed measurements and therefore a waste of time, materials, and samples. As a result of these issues, it is difficult for researchers to trust Dispertech and their NanoCET. The NanoCET faced challenges with its workflow, which is disrupted by going back and forth between the software and the device, with its underdeveloped analysis and measurement software, and missing feedforward and feedback in physical configuration elements like the ‘arena’, the clamp, and the cartridge. These usage issues have been traced during interviews and observations in the context, a competitor analysis, a functional analysis, a usability inspection, and a streamlined walkthrough.

The final design is developed through explorative prototyping, associative sketching using methods like SCAMPER and morphological charts, and creative sessions with peer students and with Dispertech. The final design is focused on a guided and efficient workflow, facilitated by the device but mainly by the measurement software. (Inter)actions in the workflow of the final design are clustered as well as the process allows. Consequently, the workflow is split up into three phases: 1) Insert cartridge, 2) Prepare device, and 3) Measurement. The physical device shows multiple differences compared to the current NanoCET: the ON/OFF button is visible and easily reachable at the front, the finger indentation of the knob is coloured to emphasize this use cue, there are use cues for (opening) the clamp and the packaging of a cartridge facilitates carrying information. The cartridge itself is redesigned to protect the coverslip and to provide more feedforward and feedback by making use of colours (and shapes) resembling the corresponding phase. The ‘arena’ is designed to provide use cues and fit the new cartridge. Moreover, the LEDs on the physical device are placed so they are always visible, whether the interaction is performed seated, or standing up. Each LED has a different colour to track the three phases and their colours in the software. In the software, the user sees an overview of the whole process. Information is hierarchically layered, using hover-information buttons to provide extra input when it is required during the process. The least amount of input is required to set up a measurement, supported by automatically filling fields based on the information given earlier. In this way, users experience careful guidance through each step of the workflow.

The goal of this thesis was to propose a new design for a kitefoiling harness for the Dutch Olympic team, which does not cause major discomfort, stays in the same location on the body and properly supports the body of the athlete. In the discovery phase, three main problems with existing harnesses were found. First, as the harness is pulled up the body while kitefoiling, the legstraps put an uncomfortably large amount of pressure on the groin. Second, ideally the attachment point between the harness and the kite sits around the crotch, but as the harness is pulled up the attachment point moves as well. Furthermore, the attachment point moves around too much in general. Last, the shape of the harness does not always fit the athlete well, causing weird pressure points, which are perceived as uncomfortable. Two extreme postures were identified that harnesses need to perform well in: going upwind and doing a manoeuvre. Through force analysis it was found the highest forces that the harness has to endure are in the upwind posture. Major shear forces should be avoided. The athletes prefer to be supported most at the Gluteus Maximus and the lower back. The design approach for this project was prototype focussed, with every design stage being tested and validated. First, general concept directions were designed and evaluated. This evaluation led to two major pain points in the design: too much pressure on the hips and too much pressure at the groin. Two subsequent design sprints were then completed to solve these two pain points. The outcomes were tested with members of the Dutch Olympic team. The final proposed design is radically different than existing kitefoiling harnesses on the market. The new design removes the spreaderbar and makes the attachment point much smaller. Additionally, it contains much bigger legstraps that keep the entire harness in place and are connected to a hard belt that is custom moulded to the shape of the back of the athlete. Apart from the hard belt, everything can be adjusted to ensure the best possible fit. During final testing it was found that, overall, the new design does not perform better than the current best harness on the market. The freedom of movement is greatly reduced and the leg straps were perceived as very uncomfortable, partly due to a much higher pressure from the kite in manoeuvres than anticipated. The newly designed leg straps did stay in place perfectly and kept the attachment point in the same place. Ultimately, the design should be tested with more participants. Even though the design is currently not better than the compared harness, some suggested adjustments could have a positive impact on the discomfort that the athlete perceived.

Nacra is a catamaran builder focused on racing catamarans. Nacra wants to broader its target market. The design goal is to develop a solution that makes Nacra’s recreational catamarans accessible but look and feel high-performance. The project results in a more accessible catamaran for novice sailors and sailors without prior
experience on a catamaran without tampering with the boat’s performance.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a change of an accuracy restriction (AR) leads to a change in the separation time between the peak rotational velocities of the pelvis and the trunk during a pitching motion, while the ball velocity is kept constant. The peak rotational velocities of the pelvis, trunk, the separation time and ball velocity were measured on ten players (age: 20.4±2.4 years, length: 187.6±4.7 cm, bodyweight: 81.3±9.7 kg, pitching experience: 10.7±4.2 years). They performed two tasks twice. First, they had to perform ten fastballs on a large target with a low accuracy restriction. Secondly, they had to perform ten fastballs on a small target with a high accuracy restriction. A week later they performed the same tasks but in reversed order. The associations between the kinematic variables and the accuracy restriction were separately determined using generalized estimating equations. The rotational velocity of the pelvis was significantly associated with the accuracy restriction. The separation time and rotational velocity of the trunk were not significantly associated with the accuracy restriction. It cannot be concluded that the separation time was affected by a change in accuracy restriction.

Humans wear helmets to protect the head from impact. However, covering part of the body influences the thermal balance due to restricting the heat loss capacity. This is especially the case for the head due of the lack of vasoconstriction response in the head’s skin. This project focussed on improving thermal comfort and perception when wearing a helmet in warm environments or during physical exercise. The main problem statement was: accumulation of heat underneath the helmet resulting in a rise in head skin temperature, decreased thermal comfort and exercise performance. There are five heat loss pathways in order for the human body to lose excess heat: conduction, radiation, and convection complemented with evaporation and respiration. Smith & Havenith (2011) identified the forehead, side of the head and neck as areas of high sweat rate, here evaporative heat loss has high potential for providing cooling. Fanger’s (1970) four conditions state that skin temperature and skin wettedness are the main factors determining a person’s whole body thermal comfort. The emphasis was placed on convective (airflow) and evaporative heat transfer as main cooling pathways. Also, active cooling was found to be necessary to provide enough cooling for the head according to Strijk’s (2008) model. The new Fantilated helmet features active cooling through ventilation, a pyramid structured padding embedded with micro channels and an absorbing biomaterial. The Fantilated helmet was prototyped to validate the design and the cooling principle. To test the active cooling system a thermal head manikin with thermal sensors on its surface was covered with a wet cloth to analyse the temperature changes on the head’s surface. The full set-up was placed on a scale to analyse the decrease in weight caused by evaporation. The active ventilation of the Fantilated helmet rendered positive results in terms of reducing the temperature and an increase in the evaporation rate. Both the decrease in weight and temperature suggest that the active cooling system of the Fantilated helmet will aid in improving thermal comfort. The Fantilated helmet that was used in this test was not optimal, also, the pyramid structured padding and the absorbing biomaterial were not present in the final prototype (and therefore not tested). Possibly, the final product/design could render even better results than the one used in this test. In conclusion, the Fantilated helmet is effective in decreasing the surface temperature of the head and improving the evaporation from the head’s surface. However, testing was done on a thermal head manikin and not on actual humans. Further development is recommended and testing on actual users is necessary in order to validate all aspects of the design.