Concept Generation

Chapter 6

References:
1. Dieter/Schmidt, Engineering Design 5th Edition,2013
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Concept Generation in PDP

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Content
 Example: Shot Buddy Concept Generation
 Creative Thinking Methods
 Brainstorming

 Idea Generating Techniques Beyond Brainstorming

 Schematic Diagram of the Creative Idea Evaluation
Process
 Concept Map

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Content
 Systematic Methods for Designing
 Functional Decomposition and Synthesis
 Morphological Analysis

 Theory of Inventive Problem Solving

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Shot Buddy Concept Generation

Adapted from J. Davis, J. Decker, J. Maresco, S. McBee, S. Phillips, and R. Quinn, “JSR Design
Final Report: Shot-Buddy,” unpublished, ENME 472, University of Maryland, May 2010.
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Sketch of Shot-Buddy Concept

Adapted from J. Davis, J. Decker, J. Maresco, S. McBee, S. Phillips, and R. Quinn, “JSR Design
Final Report: Shot-Buddy,” unpublished, ENME 472, University of Maryland, May 2010.
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 Creative Thinking Methods

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Brainstorming
 Brainstorming is the most common method used by design
teams for generating ideas.
 The objective of creative idea evaluation is not to fix the set of
ideas into a single or very small number of solutions.
 The primary purpose of the refinement and evaluation step in
concept generation is the identification of creative, feasible, yet
still practical ideas.
 A quick way of sorting ideas:
 Ideas that are feasible as they stand.
 Ideas that may have potential after more thought or research are applied.
 Ideas that are very unfeasible and have no chance of becoming good
solutions.

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Idea Generating Techniques Beyond
Brainstorming
 Six Key Questions:
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
 Five Whys:
 Why has the machine stopped?– A fuse blew because the fan
overloaded.
 Why was there an overload?– Inadequate lubrication for bearings.
 Why wasn’t there enough lubrication?– The pump stopped working.
 Why wasn’t the pump working?– Pump shaft vibration caused by
abrasion wear.
 Why was there abrasion? – No filter on lube pump, allowing debris
to enter the system
 Checklists
 Fantasy or Wishful Thinking

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Schematic Diagram of the Creative Idea
Evaluation Process

E. Lumsdaine and M. Lumsdaine, Creative Problem Solving, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995, p.226.
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Concept Map
 A concept map is good for generating and recording ideas
during brainstorming.

 The team is asked to locate the main problem at the center of a large
sheet of a paper and then:
 Write down team-generated thoughts surrounding the central problem
label.
 Underline or circle them and connect them to the central focus.
 Use an arrow to show which issue drives what.
 Create new major branches of concepts to represent major subtopics.
 If the process develops a secondary or separate map, label it and connect it
to the rest of the map.

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Concept Map for the Recycling of a
Metal

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Generating Design Concepts
 Systematic methods for generating engineering designs exist.

 The task of the designer is to find the best of all possible

candidate solutions to a design task.

 Generative design is a theoretical construct that creates many

feasible alternatives to a given product design specification
(PDS).

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Systematic Methods for Designing
 Some design methods are labeled as systematic because
they involve a structured process for generating design
solutions.
 Systematic methods for mechanical, conceptual design
generation are:
 Functional Decomposition and Synthesis
 Morphological Analysis
 Theory of Inventive Problem Solving

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Functional Decomposition and
Synthesis
 A common strategy for solving any complex task or
describing any complex system is to decompose it into
smaller units that are easier to work with.

 Mechanical design is recursive:

 That means the same design process applied to the overall product
applies to the units of the product and can be repeated until a
successful outcome is achieved.

 Functional decomposition method has solution-neutrality:

 It does not initially impose a design, allowing more leeway for creativity
and generates a wide variety of alternative solutions.
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Physical Decomposition of a Bicycle

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Functional Representation:
Standard Flow Classes & Member Flow

R. E. Stone, “Functional Basis”, Design Engineering Lab Webpage,

designengineeringlab.org/FunctionCAD/FB.htm, accessed November 10, 2011.
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Components Abstracted into Function
Blocks

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Function Structure Black Box for a
Basketball Ball Return

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Performing Functional Decomposition
 Functional decomposition produces a diagram called a function
structure.

 A function structure is a block diagram depicting flows of energy,

material, and signal as labeled arrows taking paths between
function blocks.

 The most general function structure is a single function block

description of a device.

 This type of function structure (a single function block) is called

a black box representation of a device.

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Function Structure for a Mechanical
Pencil

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Function Structure for a Basketball
Return Device

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Morphological Methods
 Morphological analysis is a method for representing and
exploring all the relationships in multidimensional problems.

 The word morphology means the study of shape and form.

 Morphological analysis is a way of creating new forms.

 Morphological methods have been recorded in science as a way

to enumerate and investigate solution alternatives as far back as
the 1700s.

 Zwicky formalized the process of applying morphological

methods to design in the mid-1960s with the publication of a
text that was translated into English in 1969.

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Morphological Method for Design
 The general morphological approach to design is
summarized in the following three steps:
 Divide the overall design problem into simpler
subproblems.
 Generate solution concepts for each subproblem.
 Systematically combine subproblem solutions into different
complete solutions and evaluate all combinations.

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Morphological Chart for Shot Buddy
Basketball Return System

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Morphological Chart for the
Industrial Paint Robot for Aircraft Engine's Spinner

For the MKT403 project

(Karamustafa et al., 2016)

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The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving
(TRIZ)
 The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, known by the acronym
“TRIZ,” is a problem-solving methodology tailored to provide
innovative solutions for scientific and engineering problems.

 TRIZ offers four different strategies for generating an innovative

solution to a design problem. They are:
 Increase the “ideality” of a product or system
 Identify the product’s place in its evolution to ideality and force the
next step.
 Identify key physical or technological contradictions in the. product
and revise the design to overcome them using inventive principles.
 Model a product or system using substance-field analysis and apply
candidate modifications.

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Invention: Evolution to Increased
Ideality
 Altshuller’s examination of inventions led to his observation that
systems had a level of goodness he called ideality and that
invention result when changes were made to improve this
attribute of a product or system.

 Six specific design suggestions to examine for improving the

ideality of a system are as follows:
 Exclude auxiliary functions
 Exclude elements in the existing system
 Identify self-service functions
 Replace elements or parts of the total system
 Change the system’s basic principle of operation
 Utilize resources in system and surroundings

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Innovation by Overcoming
Contradictions
 The following list describes each innovation level and shows its
relative frequency:
 Level 1: (32%) Conventional design solutions arrived at by methods
well known in the technology area of the system
 Level 2: (45%) Minor corrections made to an existing system by well-
known methods at the expense of some compromise in behavior
 Level 3: (18%) Substantial improvement in an existing system that
resolves a basic behavior compromise by using the knowledge of the
same technology area; the improvement typically involves adding a
component or subsystem.
 Level 4: (4%) Solutions based on application of a new scientific
principle to eliminate basic performance compromises
 Level 5: (1% or less) Pioneering inventions based on a discovery
outside of known science and known technology
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TRIZ List of 39 Engineering Parameters

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TRIZ List of 40 Inventive Principles

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Video Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vS_b7cJn2A

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