Concurrent design and analysis of the Navigator wearable computer system: the thermal perspective

This paper describes the concurrent design of a wearable computer, called the Navigator, developed and built at Carnegie Mellon University in a multidesigner, multidomain environment. The design effort for the Navigator involved nineteen designers, representing the electronics, mechanical, industrial, software and human-computer interaction disciplines. The evolution of the multidisciplinary design is described, with particular emphasis placed upon the role of the thermal design group in the overall design process. Furthermore, the particular challenges associated with the concurrent thermal management of wearable computer systems are outlined