Smart Cane Developed with DFSS, QFD, and SDE for the Visually Impaired

This study shows an application of the Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) Methodology in the field of medical engineering. This research aims to demonstrate the application of a systematic design approach in the development of the “Ocane”, an innovative concept of smart cane for visually impaired patients which was thought of in answer to the end user’s needs, deploying an easy to transport, locate, and adjust element with ultrasonic sensors and tactile feedback. DFSS is an analytical design methodology meant to organize project workflow in a sequence of specific steps. Other standardized design procedures such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Stylistic Design Engineering (SDE) have been used to support DFSS in terms of targeting customer requirements and focusing on aesthetics for ergonomics analysis, respectively. First, the QFD process is introduced and applied to gather the final customer needs, completing the analysis with benchmarking and similar-thought products on the market. Afterwards, a description of the DFSS methodology and application to the case study was deployed. Thereafter, the SDE procedure is exposed by identifying the “Ocane” concept and development, and moving towards the completion of an inventive product with a creative design and careful attention to visually impaired clients’ requirements.