System level design as applied to CMU wearable computers

The paper describes a system level design approach to the wearable computers project at the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The project is an unique example of a cross-disciplinary project, drawing students from mechanical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, computer science, and industrial design. The students learn about design theory and practice, participate in research, create and deliver wearable computer products to sponsors. Over the last five and half years that the course has been taught teams of undergraduate and graduate students have designed and fabricated fourteen new generations of wearable computers, using an evolving artifact-specific, multidisciplinary design methodology. Between the first and last generation, the electronic functionality has increased by a factor of three, the number of mechanical features has increased by a factor of 10, and the software complexity has increased by a factor of 25 while the total design effort measured in hours has increased by less than a factor of two