Interview about Carlsbad Mobile Police TabletPC, winner of the A' Security, Safety and Surveillance Products Design Award 2020
The Tetratab mobile tablet PC was designed to address a specific need: Allow the rich use of mobile data over the Tetra police and Emergency radio network in the UK and Europe. This is one of the first Tetra radio equipped tablet PCs. The industrial design had to be ergonomic, durable, and enclose all necessary components to allow Tetra radio access. Styling is organic, comfortable, and friendly, yet conveys a serious and capable device.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsHaving designed many tablet PC over the years, there's always a pressure to create a slim & thin tablet with minimal material around the screen.. but there's some drawbacks for ergonomics. When a tablet has a thin border and slim profile, the fingers often have to cover the screen when holding the tablet and using it - the fingers need to be on that side for the hand to grip it. Another challenge is to lay out components to fit a slim, thin tablet profile, especially with lower volume prodution requiring more standardized parts inside. The Carlsbad improves the grip of the hand by creating a form that better fits the hand. The larger components were laid out to create a thick bump that the hand can grasp. Finger recesses improve the grip on the table. The strap adds extra protection from dropping.
The overall industrial design packaging of the components is a larger more graspable form rather than striving for the thinnest possible shape. This allows more space for ruggedization and drop protection within the form, rather than bumper features standing proud from the surface. The inspiration was to develop the tablet for a more comfortable hand-feel and for longer use in the hand, rather than specifications like thickness. The goal was to great a more comfortable tablet for extended use.
The rubber bumpers are part of the ruggedization and drop protection that's built into the larger form. This replaces the traditional strategy of adding large protruding bumps for protection and grip. The finger recess, straps, and convex shape of the table replace the bumps that are often added for grip in military or police products. Additional, from speaking to end-users, there is an appreciation for sleek designs as long as they are functionally the same as the more exaggerated traditional forms.
The tetra antenna components were repurposed from a production police radio handset.. therefore they were not designed to be slim and to fit into a tablet form-factor. This was to the reduce cost of production by leveraging already developed and tested components. The larger internal component size was accomodated with a larger form created for user comfort. The bump was oriented in the center of the back of the tablet where it would fit just under the palm of the user's hand. The exterior form and materials were guided by the user experience aspects mentioned previously.
The clay model was mostly used for early validation of the hand feel and groove positions on the back of the tablet. By roughly prototyping the back of the tablet in soft clay, the form was quickly verified to be comfortable for use and a good direction to explore. The easy to iterate clay model was also useful to decide the size of the bump and the placement of the finger grip grooves on each side, esuring it would work for a variety of hand sizes. The rough clay model was measured and build in CAD, then adjusted to fit around the internal compoents.
The timeline was quick as the device was being developed by a small startup and there was pressure to bring the product to market quickly. One strategy was to use pre-existing internal components that were already certified and proven, though this made industrial design and mechanical engineering layouts more challenging. Additional, low volume production processes such as CNC & Fusion MultiJet for hard plastic parts and vac-cast urethane rubber parts allowed us to create working products without the delay for traditional tooling.
One important insight from user interviews was that the UK police are often on foot and carrying all their kit with them. The tablet would either need to be holstered, put in a rucksack, or stay in the hand during their work day. A more comfortable form factor with a hand strap would facilitate the tablet remaining in the hand for longer periods. Additionally, the UK police officer on foot could pursue a suspect with the tablet in hand.
The tetra antenna had to be positioned at the end of the internal tetra radio PCB.. but the overall position of the antenna was designed to be lower profile, and to be set back from the edge of the tablet to give better protection from bumps. During an emergency situation, the officer may be struggling with or running behind a suspect and an antenna could be easily bumped and damaged.
I believe there is a general trend for military and police products to have a sleeker look and feel, rather than the exaggerated fuction-over-form aesthetic sometimes found in these products. This could be because of personal electronics such as mobiles and tablet-pc show that modern portable high tech products are durable yet also sleek and attractive. The security organizations are more apt to select a product for work use that looks like the modern products they have in their home lives, as long as they are confident they are truely rugged. The Carlsbad tablet is one of the products brought to market that reinforces this trend.
I'm proud that the Carlsbad product has been selected as a Bronze A Design Award winner. It has reinforced that the design directions I have taken with security products is recognized by the design world. It gives me confidence to pursue non-traditional industrial design in products from this category. The award is also validation to clients that trying new product directions can product better products.
Dive into a world of design excellence with our curated highlights. Each feature showcases outstanding creativity, innovation, and impact from the design world. Discover inspiration and learn more about these incredible achievements.
