The learning path involves the development of analytical skills and design skills such as:
- launching and developing a methodological system for the development of a complex product, starting from the priority definition of its essential components, coupled with traditional and digital production technologies.
- knowledge of the phenomena that constrain the design and production of each existing series product as a complex components system.
- the development capability of design research needed to configure a complex product whose morphology is the result of traditional knowledge combined with digital innovation
- technical expertise for physically or virtually disassembling a complex product and hence the definition of the essential operating scheme
- identifying relationships between existing and new design components, including what is offered on a daily basis by technological innovation, sharing of digital knowledge and new professional and productive activities.
- Experience in reconfiguring:
- the product, starting from the knowledge of the territory in which it will be used, so that the tools enhance the material culture and integrate into the valorisation of the micro / small business system
- the relational component system, reaching its final definition with the aim of keeping the object’s final purpose, maintenance work, parts substitutability, end-of-life disposal and the relationship with the context of use and performance
- define the objectives, contents and phases of the component system design
- developing new economic-productive-distributive models
- manage and complete the prototyping phase as a moment of operational testing of the product and process.
- communicate with clarity and effectiveness and discuss complex proposals made from traditional and digital communication techniques.

Consolidated knowledge in the field of design, production technologies, analog and digital representation techniques (from 2d drawing to 3d animated rendering) for the development of an industrial product.
Since the laboratory will be entirely in English, the reference bibliography will be mainly in English: therefore, it is essential to have an excellent level of knowledge of the language, both spoken and written. In addition, due to the possibility to share and discuss specific material online with design reviews and meetings, students must be equipped with an effective Internet connection, a device with an updated Internet browser and/or online meetings apps, a webcam and a microphone.

The work of the laboratory is focused on the design of an industrial product, starting with the analysis of the components and considering the culture of the persona that will use it and the territorial, cultural and social environment in which the product will be produced and used. The activity is developed by groups of students (minimum 3, maximum 5 students per group).
By analysing a product/project, students will identify the objects components and they will understand the technical characteristics, the relationships that bind them, the material and energy flows and make them work together. Each group is required to individually analyse what is discussed in classroom and within the group itself, so that they can share a common critical vision on the subject. The final goal of the lab is to design product, define a concept and to prototype it, through the new processes and methodologies offered by Open Design, micro-production and technological support of the new Digital Manufacturing processes, through the technical support of companies and territorial Fablabs. DESIGN BY COMPONENTS (DESIGN PER COMPONENTI) (6 CFU, 60 hours) The course coordinates the laboratory activities, provides theoretical lessons on design methodology, accompanies students in the analysis of industrial products, reads the opportunities and constraints of the local, cultural and social relationship with the subjects for whom the projects are developed. It create the conditions to develop design concepts and verifies its productive feasibility, being it craft or industrial. Additionally, each group will be involved into innovative didactic activities through an Open Design sharing approach, working internally and with other teams in specifically educational design sessions. Such activities will focus teamwork around product design, design processes and sharing all the content within the course environment, providing also a final peer-review and grading experience. MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS FOR THE DESIGN (MATERIALI E COMPONENTI PER IL DESIGN) (6 CFU, 60 hours) Provides the basic elements for the functional definition and preliminary dimensioning of the mechanical, thermal and mechatronic components of the industrial product, focusing on functional relationships. Provide the skills needed to evaluate the effect of mechanical and thermal properties of materials for preliminary design of components and foreseeable performance estimates based on the main dimensional and morphological parameters. Finally, it provides basic skills in mechatronic components that allow product and / or component interaction with the outside world and with users, with particular attention to open source sensor and drive devices typically used in non-compliant industrial environments. Finally, the course deals with the basic elements for the development of networked objects, with particular reference to the IoT and the interfaces between man and machine.
The topics covered are:
- Basic kinematics, dynamics and motion transmissions, measurement of relative physical quantities and sample case analysis - 8 hours
- Basic concepts of thermodynamics and energy, measurement of relative physical quantities and sample case analysis - 8 hours
- Product Control and Interfacing Devices: Open Source Control Cards, Sensors, Types of Drive. Interfacing man machine. Internet of the Things (IoT) - 8 hours
- Practical application for project development - 36 hours
At the end of the module, the student will be able to
- define the functional layout of a product composed of several components
- to qualitatively define and quantitatively evaluate the exchange of matter, energy and information between them
- to estimate the size, mass and specific needs of the individual components, depending on the intended application
- to effectively interact with engineers specialising in the design of individual components. PRODUCTION CHEMICAL PROCESSES (PROCESSI CHIMICI DI PRODUZIONE) (6 CFU, 60 hours) The module provides basic knowledge of the transformation processes used in additive manufacturing and micro-production, of the raw materials used and of the end of life of the products considered. It also illustrates the fundamental concepts of energy sustainability applied to micro-production processes.
In particular, the following topics are covered:
– Analysis of primary and secondary raw materials and their physicochemical properties according to the different transformations implemented in the logic of local scale production models (18 h)
– Regenerative recovery of waste products/raw materials, waste selection processes, recovery technologies for used materials (eg batteries, computers, appliances, etc.), recovery of material and energy content from solid waste (metals, wood, glass, paper, plastic) (6 h)
– Evaluation of the sustainability and environmental impact aspects in the design of the products considered (36 h)
At the end of the module, the student will be able to identify the transformation process and the most suitable and sustainable raw materials for the design of complex products in the framework of micro-production approaches. HISTORY OF MATERIAL CULTURE (STORIA DELLA CULTURA MATERIALE) (6 CFU, 60 hours) The course is aimed to analyse the history of material culture, as a phenomenon of long time duration especially in modern and contemporary age. It seeks to deepen relationships that intersect between objects to trivial appearance - artefacts of architecture, decorative arts or industrial design - and the mentalities, practices, or social behaviours that these objects have produced, influenced, and modified. Through lessons, readings, filmography and analysis of iconography, the course aims to stimulate the research paradigms of reading and interpreting anonymous and common objects which, by virtue of their daily use, have been able to influence the lives of men and women through a history sometimes strikingly long.

Since many activities in the lab and for the final design proposal will include a practical making experience, it is suggested to consider the activation of the Fablab Student Membership card as a possibile alternative to the Polito Museum Pass. More information here https://didattica.polito.it/iniziative_mobilita_en.html and here https://fablabtorino.org/

The Laboratory requires a constant frequency even in view of the final judgment that will be expressed with only one exam. The activities that make up the Laboratory and will be proposed by the professors who hold the various contributions, have different ways of carrying out and include practical lessons and practical analysis, design, verification, and classroom exercises with professors.
The ability to present clarity and effectiveness and discuss the developed products is considered to be a major element of the training that the Laboratory seeks to give to students, being an indispensable component in the conciliation and negotiation processes that accompany the definition and production of complex objects.

Summary of the topics discussed, copy of the material used during lessons and documents useful for organising group activities are commonly distributed to students, from time to time. The compulsory bibliography consists of the following contributions, split down by discipline:
 DESIGN BY COMPONENTS (DESIGN PER COMPONENTI) – L. Bistagnino, Il Guscio Esterno visto dall'Interno, CEA Milano 2008, italiano/english – Germak (a cura di), Uomo al centro del progetto, Allemandi, Torino 2009, italiano/english – Don Tapscott, Anthony D. Williams, Wikinomics. La Collaborazione Di Massa Che Sta Cambiando Il Mondo, Bur, 2010 – Chris Anderson, MAKERS, Crown Business, 2012 MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS FOR THE DESIGN (MATERIALI E COMPONENTI PER IL DESIGN) – W.G. Mclean, Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems of Engineering Mechanics, Statics McGraw Hill Education, 2010 – M. Potter, C.W. Somerson, Schaum’s Outline of Thermodynamics for Engineers, McGraw Hill Education, 2013 – C. Ferraresi, T. Raparelli, Meccanica Applicata, CLUT, 2007 – V. Giaretto, Lezioni di termodinamica applicata e trasmissione del calore, CLUT, 2015 PRODUCTION CHEMICAL PROCESSES (PROCESSI CHIMICI DI PRODUZIONE) – Ian Gibson, David Rosen, Brent Stucker, Additive Manufacturing Technologies: 3D Printing, Rapid Prototyping, and Direct Digital Manufacturing, Springer Science+Business Media, New York, 2015 – Michael F. Ashby, Kara Johnson, Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2013 – Joseph Fiksel, Design for Environment, Second Edition: A Guide to Sustainable Product Development: Eco-Efficient Product Development, McGraw-Hill, 2009 – Helen Lewis, John Gertsakis, Tim Grant, Nicola Morelli, Andrew Sweatman, Design + Environment: A Global Guide to Designing Greener Goods, Routledge, 2001 HISTORY OF MATERIAL CULTURE (STORIA DELLA CULTURA MATERIALE) The main reference for the course is: – Pat KIRKHAM, Susan WEBER (eds.), History of Design: Decorative Arts and Material Culture, 1400-2000, New York – New Haven – London: Bard Graduate Center – Yale University Press, 2013. The complete references list for the course is: – Fernand BRAUDEL, Civilization and Capitalism: 15th – 18th Century, vol. I: The Structures of Everyday Life: The Limits of the Possible, Berkeley – Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992, pp. 23-29, pp. 183-209, pp. 266-311. – Adrian FORTY, Objects of Desire: Design and Society since 1750, London – New York: Thames & Hudson, 1986. – Anne GERRITSEN, Giorgio RIELLO (eds.), Writing Material Culture History, London – New York: Bloomsbury, 2015, pp. 1-13, pp. 17-31, pp.111-133. – Sigfried GIEDION, Mechanization Takes Command: A Contribution to Anonymous History, Minneapolis - London: University of Minnesota Press, 2013, pp. 2-11, pp. 511-627, pp. 628-712. – Karen HARVEY (ed.), History and Material Culture: A Student’s Guide to Approaching Alternative Sources, New York – London: Routledge, 2009. – Edward S. Cooke, Jr., Global Objects: Toward a Connected Art History, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022 – Massimo Fusillo, The Fetish: Literature, Cinema, Visual Art, New York: Bloomsbury USA Academic, 2017 – Clifford Geertz, "Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture", in The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays, New York: Basic Books, 1973, pp. 3–30 – O. Pamuk, The Museum of Innocence, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009 – M. Yonan, "Towards a Fusion of Art History and Material Culture", in West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture, published by The University of Chicago Press, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Fall-Winter 2011), pp. 232-248

Exam: Group graphic design project; Group essay;

The activities carried out will be monitored through possible interim evaluations, both in mono-disciplinary and seminary, i.e. with the participation of all disciplines. These mid-term evaluations, if done, will contribute to the final judgment based on the presentation and discussion of the final papers (writings and drawings) evaluated by the lecturers at the joint oral exam session. Laboratory activities are carried out by students grouped into groups, but the judgment for each student will be an individual (single vote) judgment that will take into account the possible mono-disciplinary and seminar-based intermediate (written, oral, graphic) evaluations, the evaluation of the presentation and discussion of final work and the individual participation in such work and at moments of collective presentation. The final grade of the lab is determined by the average of the evaluations in the individual disciplines, whose lecturers will provide individuale grades to the entire final work, evaluated from the point of view of methodology, project and final design proposal. The final presentation and the entire sharing process based upon the Open Design approach will be also included into the final evaluation.

In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.