Product design and engineering

The present globalized market is forcing many companies to invest in new strategies and tools for supporting knowledge management. This aspect is becoming a key factor in the industrial competitiveness for the presence of extended enterprises that normally deal with huge data exchange and share processes. This scenario is due to the presence of partners geographically distributed over the entire globe, that participate in different steps of the product lifecycle (product development, maintenance and recycling). At present, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) seems to be the appropriate solution to support enterprises in this complex scenario, even though a real standardized approach for the implementation of knowledge sharing and management tools does not exist today. For this reason, the aim of this paper is to develop a knowledge management operative methodology able to support the formalization and the reuse of the enterprise expertise acquired while working on previous products. By focusing on consumer packaged goods enterprises and on the concept development phase (which is one of the most knowledge intensive phases of the whole product lifecycle), this research work has developed a new systematic methodology to support knowledge codification and knowledge management operations. The new methodology integrates the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and the Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskikh Zadatch (TRIZ). Also, a case study on the problem of waste disposal has been conducted to validate the proposed methodology. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Knowledge sharing , PLM , QFD , TRIZ , Waste disposal

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a robot for surveillance able to move in structured and unstructured environments and able to overcome obstacles with high energetic efficiency. Design/methodology/approach - The proposed Epi.q-TG hybrid robot combines wheeled and legged locomotion. It is equipped with four threewheeled locomotion units; traction is generated by the two forecarriage units, while the two rear ones have same geometry but are idle. Each front unit is actuated by a single motor with the interposition of an epicyclical gearing, accurately designed in order to suitably switch between wheeled and legged motion. The robot changes locomotion mode from rolling on wheels (advancing mode) to stepping on legs (automatic climbing mode) according to local friction and dynamic conditions. Findings - The experimental results confirm the design objectives. In advancing mode, the robot behaves like a four-wheeled vehicle, with high speed and energetic efficiency. In automatic climbing mode, the robot can walk on uneven and soft terrains and overcome steps with remarkable height with respect to its dimensions (up to 84 per cent of the locomotion unit height). Practical implications - Besides surveillance, Epi.q-TG can be successfully used in many tasks in which it is useful to combine the advantages of wheeled and legged locomotion, e.g. unmanned inspection of nuclear and chemical sites, minesweeping, and intervention in disaster zones. Originality/value - The core of the project is the epicyclical mechanism of the locomotion unit, which switches between advancing mode and automatic climbing mode without control action. This solution limits the control and actuation complexity and consequently the robot cost, widening the range of possible applications. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Keywords: Motion , Robots , Surveillance

The family of Epi.q mobile robots is based on a three-wheeled locomotion unit which is capable of switching between wheeled locomotion and legged locomotion depending on the dynamic conditions, without control intervention. This feature allows to conjugate the benefits of both the locomotion modes: high speed and energetic efficiency on even terrains with the wheeled locomotion, and mobility performance on uneven terrains and in presence of obstacles with the legged locomotion. Two prototypes of the Epi.q family have been already realized and tested, with positive results; a further evolution with four actuated locomotion units (instead of two active and two idle units) is currently under construction. The present paper outlines the evolution of the family of Epi.q mobile robots and proposes several possible architectural evolutions exploiting a modular approach; this approach could be used also to simplify the design phase, obtaining different mobile robots from a limited set of base modules. Copyright © 2011 by ASME.

The paper discloses a method for conceptual design oriented to generation of new product concepts based on in-depth knowledge and experience of systematic innovation methods and tools, but that does not require specific advanced skills to be performed. The method has been freely inspired by TRIZ Laws of Technical System Evolution (LTSE). It is structured as a sequence of practical guidelines and operative rules that guide designers through an unconventional paradigm leading to breakthrough ideas and new solutions. It has been checked through a set of test cases offered by local companies and performed by engineering students. Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Keywords: Creativity , Design guidelines , Laws of technical system evolution , Product development , TRIZ

This paper discloses an innovative step by step method based on TRIZ tools used according to the general approach suggested by FMEA. The aim of the proposed method consists in building an improved risk management model for design and to enhance the capability of anticipating problems and technical solutions to reduce failure occurrence. The method adopts tools used to model the system, such as functionality, Su-Fields models, resource evaluation and tools dedicated to problem solving such as standard solutions. The resulting method allows a better definition of the system decomposition and functioning and provides a sharp definition of the events and failures potentially occurring into the system, which is not provided by standard FMEA. Moreover, the high importance given to resources since the beginning of the method is extremely effective for understanding system evolution and to generate resource-based solution to problems dealing with product risk. The overall method has been developed so that technicians are not supposed to have a high level expertise in TRIZ tools. In order to evaluate the method it was tested with students with basic level TRIZ education and some application with industrial case studies were performed. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: ENV model , FMEA , Risk management , Su-Field , TRIZ

Sustainability is one of the most recent theme designers have to deal with and sustainability parameters are quickly gaining the top of the list of the requirements any product has to fulfil. Due to standards, legal regulation and customer growing awareness of environmental issues, engineers cannot avoid turning their everyday activities from design to eco-design. By the way, a significant drop of environmental impact of products cannot be achieved by simply adding a 'green' constraint to the already overpopulated list of design constraints. To answer to this issue a plurality of methods are available helping the designer (or pretending to) to assess product lifecycle or to provide suggestions on how to innovate the product or process according to sustainable goals. Within this context, the present work describes a way of using TRIZ concepts and tools in order to both assess and innovate a technical system so that some practical activities to ensure sustainable results can be easily embodied into everyday design practice. The main novelty on the operative level consists of an original method based on a set of Guidelines derived from Laws of Technical System Evolution (LTSE) in order to assess the value of existing solution (e.g. using Resources and Functionality as a metric of evaluation), to understand the most promising directions of improvement and to improve said solution also according to sustainability requirements. The paper will show the way Guidelines are applied with practical examples and an industrial case study will be presented and discussed. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: Eco-design , Eco-guidelines , LTSE , Resources

Intense thermal loads in fusion devices occur during plasma disruptions, Edge Localized Modes (ELM) and Vertical Displacement Events (VDE). They will result in macroscopic erosion of the plasma facing materials and consequent accumulation of activated dust into the ITER Vacuum Vessel (VV). A recognized safety issue for future fusion reactors fueled with deuterium and tritium is the generation of sizeable quantities of dust. In case of LOVA, air inlet occurs due to the pressure difference between the atmospheric condition and the internal condition. It causes mobilization of the dust that can exit the VV threatening public safety because it may contain tritium, may be radioactive from activation products, and may be chemically reactive and/or toxic (Sharpe et al. [1]; Sharpe and Humrickhouse [2]). Several experiments have been conducted with STARDUST facility in order to reproduce a low pressurization rate (300 Pa/s) LOVA event in ITER due to a small air leakage for two different positions of the leak, at the equatorial port level and at the divertor port level, in order to evaluate the velocity magnitude in case of a LOVA that is strictly connected with dust mobilization phenomena. A two-dimensional (2D) modelling of STARDUST, made with the CFD commercial code FLUENT, has been carried out. The results of these simulations were compared against the experimental data for CFD code validation. For validation purposes, the CFD simulation data were extracted at the same locations as the experimental data were collected. In this paper, the authors present and discuss the computer-simulation data and compare them with data collected during the laboratory studies at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" Quantum Electronics and Plasmas lab. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: CFD , Dust , LOVA

A recognized safety issue for future fusion reactors fueled with deuterium and tritium is the generation of sizeable quantities of dust. Several mechanisms resulting from material response to plasma bombardment in normal and off-normal conditions are responsible for generating dust of micron and sub-micron length scales inside the VV (Vacuum Vessel) of experimental fusion facilities. The loss of coolant accidents (LOCA), loss of coolant flow accidents (LOFA) and loss of vacuum accidents (LOVA) are types of accidents, expected in experimental fusion reactors like ITER, that may jeopardize components and plasma vessel integrity and cause dust mobilization risky for workers and public. The air velocity is the driven parameter for dust resuspension and its characterization, in the very first phase of the accidents, is critical for the dust release. To study the air velocity trend a small facility, Small Tank for Aerosol Removal and Dust (STARDUST), was set up at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", in collaboration with ENEA Frascati laboratories. It simulates a low pressurization rate (300 Pa/s) LOVA event in ITER due to a small air inlet from two different positions of the leak: at the equatorial port level and at the divertor port level. The velocity magnitude in STARDUST was investigated in order to map the velocity field by means of a punctual capacitive transducer placed inside STARDUST without obstacles. FLUENT was used to simulate the flow behavior for the same LOVA scenarios used during the experimental tests. The results of these simulations were compared against the experimental data for CFD code validation. For validation purposes, the CFD simulation data were extracted at the same locations as the experimental data were collected for the first four seconds, because at the beginning of the experiments the maximum velocity values (that could cause the almost complete dust mobilization) have been measured. In this paper the authors present and discuss the computer-simulation data and compare them with data collected in STARDUST. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords: CFD , Dust , ITER , LOVA , STARDUST , Velocity

The paper describes experiences and reflections, matured at the Faculty of Engineering of University of Calabria (Italy), during the last decade, in the courses of Engineering Design Methods, held at the bachelor degree in management engineering and the master degree in mechanical engineering. The courses, even addressed to different audiences, contain the functional analysis of an industrial product, that characterize the core of the discipline. In the paper the product functional analysis is described and the problems of its teaching are reported. The application to a case of study clarify its use and its employment as tool for discovering lacks in device already present on market.

Keywords: Building of functional net , Functional analysis , Reasoning by function

Many design approaches have been developed to support the tasks involved in the Conceptual and Embodiment design phases, but their nature has led to very different paradigms. The translation of the system concept into its structure still represents a critical task, since the models adopted for conceptual design are not directly compatible with those involved in the embodiment stage. Enhancing the interoperability of these models is therefore a key issue to improve the overall efficiency of the Product Design Cycle. According to this objective, in this paper an investigation is presented, aimed at testing the integration between OTSM-TRIZ approach to concept development and DAeMON, which is an original technique for multi-objective optimization developed by the authors. The functionality of the proposed model has been verified through its application to a case study concerning the redesign of a dot printer component. The results demonstrate the potential of the integrated paradigm in guiding the designer from the identification of the right problem to solve, to the embodiment of the solution. Furthermore, such experience allowed a preliminary investigation of a set of rules for developing a new framework for innovative embodiment tasks.

Keywords: Embodiment design , Hybridization , OTSM-TRIZ , Topological optimization

Current product lifecycle management (PLM) systems properly support the development of a product from the embodiment design stage to detail design and manufacturing phases; on the contrary, marginal support is provided to the earliest stages of conceptual design. Besides, the front end of product development is supported by an emerging technology, namely computer-aided innovation systems (CAI), which nevertheless are still poorly integrated with the following phases of the design process. The paper presents an original computer-based approach aimed at supporting embodiment design phases, which results very efficient for improving the interoperability of CAI and PLM systems and thus at extending the domain of application of these tools. The potential of the approach proposed by the authors is clarified through three exemplary case studies. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Computer-aided innovation , Embodiment design , Optimization systems , PLM , TRIZ

Within the framework of the Research Project PROSIT [1] aimed at the development of an integrated product design platform capable to link Computer-Aided Innovation (CAI) with PLM/EKM systems, the authors have approached the analysis of the contradictions emerging during the design embodiment phase. In this case, since the functional architecture of the product is already fixed, design conflicts arise due to contradictory geometrical requirements. Design Optimization systems can play a relevant role for the identification of these "geometrical contradictions", even if with modified criteria of usage. The present paper first describes how Design Optimization can be adopted as a means to link CAI and PLM/EKM systems; then a detailed analysis of geometrical contradictions is reported together with the criteria proposed for their categorization. Finally, the discussion is focused on the adoption of the proposed classification of geometrical contradictions as a pointer to the most suitable inventive principles and geometrical effects to overcome the design conflicts. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: Computer-Aided innovation , Shape optimization , Systematic design , Topological optimization , TRIZ

TRIZ literature presents several papers and even books claiming the efficiency of Altshuller's Laws of Engineering System Evolution as a means for produce technology forecasts. Nevertheless, all the instruments and the procedures proposed so far suffer from poor repeatability, while the increasing adoption of innovation as the key factor for being competitive requires reliable and repeatable methods and tools for the analysis of emerging technologies and their potential impact. The present paper proposes an original algorithm to build a Network of Evolutionary Trends for a given Technical System with repeatable steps. Such a goal has been achieved by integrating well known models and instruments for system description and functional analysis. The overall procedure, still under further development, has been clarified by means of one of the case studies carried out for its validation. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: EMS model , FBS model , Functional basis , Laws of engineering systems evolution , Technology forecasting

Marketing strategies are focusing on innovation as the key for being competitive; as a consequence, product development processes must be improved in order to have a link as close as possible between conceptual design and detailed design activities. Within this context, TRIZ and TRIZ-based methodologies and tools are still poorly integrated with product embodiment means: CAD/CAE systems are not suited for supporting the designer in the conceptual design phase and at the same time inventive/separation principles, standard solutions etc. can hardly be translated into a modification of a CAD model and the only opportunity is to restart the modeling process. A small consortium of Italian Universities is analyzing the opportunity to use Design Optimization tools as a means for linking Computer-Aided Innovation (CAI) tools with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems: www.kaemart.it/prosit. Among the specific objectives of the project, this paper describes how to analyze TRIZ technical contradictions by means of Design Optimization tools, with the aim of translating them into physical contradictions. The suggestions provided by inventive/separation principles are therefore converted into a new Design Optimization problem for the development of a novel solution. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: Computer-aided innovation , Shape optimization , Systematic design , Topological optimization , TRIZ

Patents are an important source of technical knowledge which is increasing its fundamental role in supporting design activity. Analogical thinking, for example, is based on a fruitful and previously unnoticed analogy with an existing solution and patent in another area. Patents reveal solutions to technical problems, and they represent an inexhaustible source of information: more than 80 percent of man's technical knowledge is described in patent literature [1]. Therefore automation of systems for patent retrieval, especially for commercial use, is in great demand. Manual extraction of desired patents is very costly and time consuming. This article proposes an inventive procedure to create a thesaurus, identifying the pool of keywords related to a given product based on a combination of creativity methods and a pre-built thesaurus of physical effects. Keywords are classified into a hierarchical tree diagram according to the FBS Function/Behaviour/Structure classification [2]. This classification, called KOM® - Knowledge Organizing Module [3], can be used for building a state of the art, problem solving activity support, carrying out technological transfer and forecasting activities. In this work, the algorithm for automatic patent digging aimed at building the state of the art of a system or of a technology is presented. Novel and key points are widely illustrated in this paper, together with an explanatory case study. © 2011 by ASME.

Keywords: FBS , Information retrieval , Patent , Technical creativity , Text mining , Thesaurus

It is proven that a low accuracy in setup or an insufficient attention during the problem structuring[1] may affect the accuracy of the final solution[2], while a problem that is properly defined is virtually solved[3], especially for "ill-defined" problems. Many efforts have been made since the 1970s for improving problem assessment, managing problem information (their functioning, constraints and requirements) and avoiding psychological barriers and memory loads[4]. Other studies have been focused on overcoming trivial points of view, such as lateral thinking[5] and to systematize an abstraction path for the initial situation by using theoretical models as functional models[6], cause effect analysis, and contradictions[7]. This work takes into account this background in problem solving methods, especially root cause analysis[8] and TRIZ[7], the theory of inventive problem solving. In this paper, a set of steps, called BOB-UP® have been conceived in order to support designers during the correct reformulation of the initial problem. This procedure has the aim to reformulate every technical problems, turning an ill-defined initial problem into a well-defined final problem. In this paper the framework of the procedure based upon an inedited cause-effect analysis is widely shown. For completing each design step, ontologies, linguistic rules, modeling tools and sketches are carefully integrated. Novel and key points are extensively presented in this paper, together with an exemplary case about a toaster implementation. The overall procedure was translated into software to ease the completion. The output of such computer aided reformulation consists of a "well defined" problem reformulation. Unlike the most famous and traditional cause-effect approaches, in the BOB-UP® environment the user is guided step by step to identify the best level of detail, focusing on the undesired effect(s), and finally identify the crucial element on which intervention is needed. A preliminary validation, conducted with 9 industrial cases by 30 users selected from the teaching staff of the University, research assistants and PhD and Master Degree students in Mechanical Engineering, has demonstrated the effectiveness of the method. Copyright © 2011 by ASME.

Keywords: Cause-effect analysis , Problem reformulation , Problem solving , Psychological barrier , Sketch , TRIZ

The development of a Computer Aided Inventing system, assisting product designers in the creative stage, is a lengthy process because of lack of any real systematization of design knowledge for software implementation. The existing development tools for knowledge-based systems offer limited support for intelligent design. A knowledge-based architecture for intelligent product implementation is described in this paper. It is aimed at facing those problems where radical implementation is needed. Intended solutions are not based on improvement of existing inventions, but are oriented towards a new technological jump. A modification of the function-behaviour-structure (FBS) ontology is proposed to analyze the product to be innovated. Then an innovative behaviour oriented search aids the designer to systematically conceive a set of alternative behaviours, by means of a combination of three different creativity methods. The identified function-alternative behaviour couple is then automatically translated into targets for an automatic patent digging activity. Modified FBS ontology is also exploited to classify all the information collected at functional, behavioural and structural level, and a specific algorithm provides both patent search and classification in the form of a tree-like diagram. The software can be implemented as a support for building patent technological surveys, a personal knowledge database, technological transfer and forecasting. Copyright © 2002-2012 The Design Society. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Engineering Design , FBS , Knowledge Management , Technical Creativity

Patents are an increasingly important source of technological intelligence that companies can use to gain strategic advantage. Public databases, such as Espacenet, offer for free, available over the internet, some millions of documents with constant format and always updated. So, the answer to most of our technical questions depends on how we are able to extract crucial information from patent corpus and translate them into knowledge. A general overview on universal tools for knowledge management (bibliometric, text mining, semantic) is proposed, with the aim to highlight what problems have already been overcome and what still needs to be done, especially for TRIZ users who want to identify technical features in a text. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.

Keywords: Data Mining , ENV model , FBS , Ontology , TRIZ

This article presents a methodological study on the potential use of structural optimization strategies for eco-design to support engineers during the design process of green products. The structure of the traditional process of eco-design now depends on the personal skills of the designer and his ability to integrate in the traditional design process the requirements of eco-sustainability. The objective of this study was to address guidance on integrating environmental aspects into a computer aided inventing product design and development extending the functionality of the traditional design process to green product design. The proposal arises combining eco-inventive principles with the design approach based on structural optimization tools so creating a knowledge-rich CAE process linking CAD, FEM, Optimization tools and LCA based tool. CAI tool is used to generate unconventional geometries and to trace the best promising direction of intervention. LCA integration allows the user in real-time to measure the environmental impact of his design choice calculated as a variation on the main indexes of environmental sustainability. A case study about the eco improvement of a steering plate for trial motorcycles is presented and discussed with the aim to introduce potential benefits of such an inventive eco design approach. © 2011 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.

Keywords: CAI , Eco guidelines , Eco-design , Inventive Design , Structural Optimization , TRIZ