Business, business ...

Dear all,
I wanted to inform you that I have a new professional website (for the moment in French) : www.mpsolving.com
It describes my business offers, and some other relevant information.
Furthermore I decided to continue my blog on this new professional website, and to stop it here.

Thank you very much to have followed me on blogspot. My blog continues here.

With my best regards
Stéphane Savelli

Dyson, initiator of new paradigms

Sir James Dyson is a British great inventor and entrepreneur.

He is worldwide known as the inventor of a bagless vacuum cleaner whose working principle is cyclonic separation (see Figure below). This technology is called Dual Cyclone™. His first US patent dates back to 1986.

The advantages of this technology are :
* no need for purchasing bags
* suction force which does not decrease over time
* higher suction force for the same power input (at least for the last version)
This concept has made Dyson's fortune, first as a license provider, then as a manufacturer (as from 1992). Actually the technology has constantly evolved. Nowadays Dyson's US market share is around one third.

In late 2000 Dyson launches commercially the Contrarotator™, a washing machine whose washing drum is divided in 2 parts and rotate in opposite way. The washing action is claimed to be greater.

Unfortunately this was not a commercial success.

In 2006 the Dyson Airblade™ is launched. This is a hand dryer which functions without heat (contrarily to almost all other air dryers). The working principle is a pair of opposite, sheet-shaped powerful air jets which wipe off water from the hands, water being mainly liquid, whereas conventional airdryers slowly evaporate water. The drying of the total hands' surface occurs through the movement of the hands in front of the jet. This is the quickest hand dryer available on the market.

And this is a commercial success. I have tested it myself several times, including in airports, and I have been impressed by its speed and performance.

Most recent Dyson's invention is the Air Multiplier™. This is a bladeless ventilator. The air is taken (with the help of a "digital motor" driving a little turbine) from its vertical base and is projected towards the user through the ring (see Figure below).

Which conclusions can be drawn from this valuable information ?
* innovation is a matter of company culture ; clearly the Dyson company belongs to the companies group called "innovators"
* all the former examples show products possessing inventive designs
* it is worth of note that the Dyson company has built and developed products, based on a key engineering competence (aerodynamics/hydrodynamics), and on the key market of domestic or public appliances
* from a TRIZ point of view, to remove/displace the apparently necessary component of a technical system, which causes some disadvantages of this technical system, might be a powerful method for the improvement of its main useful function. As shown before, the bag (or filter) causes the progressive lack of suction of the vacuum cleaner ; the heated element of the hand dryer is energetically inefficient ; the blades of the ventilator cause irregular flow, some danger for kids, noise, and difficulty to clean. In these three examples, the removing/displacing of an important component of the technical system necessitates the choice and use of a new working principle, which is based on some physical effects (cyclonic separation, air jet peculiarities).

Problem solved : new ice cube tray design

The problem proposed in the former post has been successfully solved by Yves Guillou (France), TRIZ practitioner, member of this blog and author of a blog about TRIZ in French language. My congratulations to him !

Let us recall the pair of technical contradictions describing the ice cube tray problem :

TC1 : If the opposite lateral faces of the compartment unit are parallel to each other, the geometry of the ice blocks is cubic, but demoulding of the ice blocks is difficult

TC2 : If the opposite lateral faces of the compartment unit are not parallel to each other, the demoulding of the ice blocks is easy, but the geometry of the blocks is not cubic

Remarks :

* it is written "ice blocks" instead of "ice cubes", for their non cubic or cubic character is a main parameter of the problem
* more exactly, TC2 describes lateral faces which make an angle > 90° with the bottom face 

* the elementary compartment C of the classical ice cube tray (see the Figure on the former post) is composed of 5 faces which form the shape of a truncated pyramid ; there are 2 pairs of opposite, non parallel, lateral faces : F1 and F2 and also F3 and F4 ; F5 is the bottom face

The problematic situation draws a physical contradiction which can be simply expressed as follows:
PC : the lateral faces must be parallel in order to obtain cubic ice blocks, and the lateral faces must be non parallel to ensure an easy demoulding
This is only a re-formulation of the pair of technical contradictions. As we have already seen on this blog, the choice of the right physical contradiction is crucial, and the physical contradiction must express the real causality of the problem.

Is it possible to separate the opposite requirements of this PC in time ? (separation in space does not mean much here since one speaks about the relationship between two parts of the technical system).
Actually the parallelism of the lateral faces is needed to produce the ice cubes during a first time T1. If the lateral faces are non parallel during a secong time T2, the demoulding is easy. Thus the opposite requirements can be naturally separated in time. Now only the embodiment of such an ice cube tray is needed.

How to create the non parallelism of the lateral faces ? If the walls are flexible, for example. This is possible with a silicone ice cube tray (see Figure below).

By experience, the ice cubes must be demoulded one by one from a silicone ice cube tray: this is not an easy job ...
There is a possible open solutions space for other types of flexible ice cube trays which all fulfil the opposite requirements.

TRIZ proposes a tool called STC (Size-Time-Cost). This tool can help removing psychological inertia* through the proposal of 6 thinking prompts where size, time and cost values are successively forced to zero and to infinity. The consideration of extreme values can lead to interesting, non obvious solutions. Actually it may be interesting to apply extreme values to any well chosen specific parameter of a technical system.
Here the property of interest is the relative position of the faces F1 and F2 (resp. F3 and F4) which controls both producing and demoulding of cubic ice blocks. Until now we have considered the parallelism character of the opposite faces. Alternatively, it is possible to consider the distance between the opposite faces in order to quantify this relative position. This has physical meaning, for an increasing of this distance makes the demoulding easy. Let us apply inifinity to the value of the parameter "distance between the opposite faces". This means that F1 and F2 belong necessarily to separated parts of the ice cube tray. F3 and F4 belong also to separated parts of the ice cube tray.
As a conclusion, for the considered compartment of the ice cube tray which fulfils the opposite requirements - and this is generalized for all compartments of the ice cube tray - a practical solution is that F1 and F3 belong to one part of the ice cube tray, and F2 and F4 belong to another part of the ice cube tray. F5 belongs to the first part, and as will be easily understood (completion of the cubic shape), it is necessary to create F6, the face opposed to F5, with F6 belonging to the second part of the ice cube tray.
This elegant solution has been patented by the cooking tools company Lékué (from Barcelona). The design of this innovative ice cube tray is seen below :

* : psychological inertia is a central TRIZ concept, which depicts an effect of the usual state of mind, where the thinking of new schemes and designs is difficult because of the former experience of the thinker, and the associated usual schemes and designs ; as an illustration, in the present example, psychological inertia is created by the one-piece design, and makes non obvious to think about the two-piece design of an ice cube tray

Problem to solve : ice cube tray

Let us consider a very simple object from home : an ice cube tray. A typical ice cube tray is as shown below.

The ice cube tray considered here is filled with water (mineral water for the purists, for it has a good taste), and put into the freezer ; later on it is taken out of the freezer, and the ice cubes are manually removed from the tray.

Observe the shape of the compartments : it is a truncated pyramid. It is not a cube. Why ? Because this shape makes the demoulding easier.
Now what's happening if the shape is cubic ? The demoulding is difficult.

It is wished an ice cube tray which produces ice cubes which have the precise shape of cubes and which are easy to demould.

What should be done ? Can you propose a new ice cube tray design which fulfills these two contradictory requirements ?

How to turn a real drawback into an advantage : example from the welding industry

Friction stir welding - FSW- was invented by TWI (The Welding Institute) in England in 1991. This is a very interesting process, which allows to weld metals in their solid state. The principle of FSW is visible on the above figure (usually the plates are static and the tool advances) :

In comparison to older similar older processes (rotary friction welding was first developed ; linear friction welding later, in 1969), FSW is a strong step forward. Actually this process has a lot of advantages. One very interesting possibility is to butt weld aluminium alloys which are otherwise not arc-weldable. This is the case of 2000 series aluminium alloys containing magnesium, and of 7000 series aluminium alloys containing copper, among which one finds the usual aerospace aluminium alloys. An example of application is the assembly of many parts of the Eclipse low-cost private jet with the intensive help of FSW (60% of the rivets have been eliminated on the structure of this aircraft).

FSW is an innovation which has generated an important amount of related research studies, industrial applications and patents. As of today around 2700 patents related to FSW have been applied for and delivered. And there are around 180 licensees of this technology all around the world.

Actually FSW has also allowed the invention and development of related processes (for example): 

* friction stir processing 

    * for the elimination of casting defects

    * for the modification of the metallic microstructure 

          * in order to generate superplasticity (thanks to fine grains)

          * in order to enhance formability
* friction stir spot welding (as an alternative to usual resistance spot welding)

* friction stir channeling

The latter process is very interesting from the TRIZ point of view. Actually FSW is not straightforward, because a lot of parameters are to be controlled. It was observed that under certain circumstances (= certain set of welding parameters) internal channelling defects are produced when welding two metal sheets (see photograph above). Advantageously an internal continuous hole can be generated in a monolithic sheet or plate, as explained in US patent 6923362, in order to manufacture heat exchangers, where fluids circulate within the holes. Therefore this provides an alternative route for the manufacturing of such products.

Finally friction stir channelling illustrates how it is possible to turn a harmful effect into a benefit. More precisely, this transformation of a harmful effect into a benefit is operated in this specific case from one industry (welding) to another industry (heat exchangers). It could benefit some other specific applications.

But how ? I mean the following: imagine a situation where somebody looks for a solution where this channeling effect could be helpful for him/her (for example: lower cost). But this person does not know this possibility. How can this person come to this idea ? In the case this person does not know TRIZ ? And in the case where this person knows TRIZ, will TRIZ help ?
If not, how to change TRIZ to take this lack into account ?

Remark : there is an opportunity to develop specific FSW tools which allow the production of holes whose geometrical aspect is as close as possible to a round cylinder 

Business problem to solve

A and B are two people. A is CEO of his own company, and his company is well established since many years. B is an independent worker.

This is the beginning of May.
B is looking for (a) mission(s) to work on during July and August, but has difficulties to find them, because B is new on the market and his network is poorly developed. A has proposed B a one month contract for July. B ideally fits the need of A, in terms of timing and expertise. B is very much interested by the offer, but does not want to sign the contract immediately because he absolutely needs to work in July and August for reasons which are not necessary to be detailed. Consequently he waits before signing the contract, because if he finds in the meantime a mission for July and August for another customer, he will go for this latter mission. It is out of question for A to offer B a mission for July and August : the need is clearly for one month, not more.

What is the best plan for action which maximizes the probability to obtain a win-win* situation ?
(* : ideal in the TRIZ meaning)

"Korea is the world model of TRIZ"

This sentence was said by Dr Denis Cavallucci, after he gave a keynote speech ("Beyond TRIZ limits"), a tutorial lecture about computer assisted innovation, and attended the last Global TRIZ Conference 2011 in Korea (10th and 11th of March 2011).

Very remarkable fact, the CEO of POSCO (Pohang Iron and Steel Company ; 4th steel producer in the world) Joonyang Chung welcame the participants to the conference with words of encouragement. He said that POSCO 3.0 is going to be realized through the use of TRIZ as a core tool. He added that "TRIZ is a tool that allows you to leap forward to become a true global leader, and the POSCO family is also gathering its efforts to fully utilize TRIZ since last year". POSCO created a TRIZ-based unique methodology which is used for new product development, as well as for cost reduction in the production. To deploy it, POSCO created an internal TRIZ university, where 1800 employees (10% of the POSCO employees) have already been taught.

You may say : OK, but for what results ?

Joonyang Chung claimed that in 2010 TRIZ helped POSCO to earn 277 million US$, and to apply for 2.4 times more patents.

Dr Denis Cavallucci says that "a little bit like Jack Welsch (CEO of General Electric) was a starter for 6 Sigma, Junyang Chung paves the way for quantitavely bigger investments in TRIZ which will allow the deployment of TRIZ in companies" all around the world. It seems that some companies (Samsung, LG, Hitachi, Intel) begin to follow this model.

I have a last personal remark. MATRIZ is the international TRIZ association. If you go to the MATRIZ website and you give a look at the countries of origin of the 3rd MATRIZ level certified people (it has not been updated since around 1 year, but the following analysis would certainly be the same today), you will notice that 239 from 570 are from South Korea (for the sake of comparison : only 38 in all the countries of western Europe, 134 in Russia, 81 in the USA, 17 in China, 10 in Malaysia, 7 in Costa Rica !). There is even one Korean TRIZ master (level 5) (none from western Europe).

The 1 M$ question asked by Denis Cavallucci is : "what are the western European companies doing with TRIZ ?"

Here are some possibilities for an explanation of the delay in their TRIZ deployment (that's what he means):
* these companies are too conservative, not open minded enough to explore a new method, that must be just like another "new" method
* these companies do not know the existence of TRIZ
* these companies recognize the interest of TRIZ but not for their own business
* these companies do not need any help from outside for their innovation and/or the solving of their tough problems
* TRIZ was not invented in western Europe
* the TRIZ consultants are not sufficiently convincing in western Europe

Status of the TRIZ educational problems proposed until now

In this blog until now I have proposed some original TRIZ educational problems. It's time to make a summary i.e. to examine the current solved / not solved status for each proposed problem.

"Baby's crying", proposed in December 2010 : not solved
"Dolphin's sleep", proposed in December 2010 : solved by Serge Haumont (Finland) after 3 months
"Black hornets", proposed in February 2011 : not solved
"Vertigo at the museum", proposed in April 2011 : not solved

I further encourage readers of this blog to propose their solutions to the above problems which are still "open"

Good luck !
Yours sincerely
Stéphane Savelli

Problem to solve : vertigo at the museum

During the building of a new museum, a huge amount of very old houses - ruins actually - has been excavated at the level of the foundations. As these very old houses' ruins are part of the history exhibited in the museum, they should be visible for the visitors. There is some place outside the museum with a balcony which allows to see some parts of the ruins. But at other places, namely outside and inside the museum, it is not possible to further use a balcony, because space is needed for the visitors.
Therefore it has been decided to use a usual steel structure with the shape of a large grid, which supports thick glass plates where the visitors can step on. Through the glass plates one may contemplate the ruins.

But two problems arise :

* people may be surprised by the sudden height feeling when they first step onto the glass plates, and eventually fall down

* even if people are warned, they may momentarily suffer from vertigo, or at least feel unease

For the first problem a non inventive, obvious solution was found : the people are warned by several yellow warning blocks.

For the second problem, an inventive solution was found (or used if previously found by somebody else).

It is suggested to solve the second problem.

Hint : use the already introduced TRIZ tools, i.e. determine the technical contradictions, find the underlying physical contradiction, and solve it

TETRIS : a way to learn TRIZ

If you :
* would like to have a further introduction into TRIZ, and you would not like to buy a TRIZ book
* would like to have a complete introduction to TRIZ, and you have already bought TRIZ books
* even are a TRIZ practitioner
you may be interested by the website of the TETRIS project.

In particular, the TETRIS project website provides (after due registration) the possibility to download a very complete TRIZ course. Five additional tough problems are proposed with usual mistakes and control solutions.

I forgot the following information : the access to the documents is for free. Very appreciable initiative !

Natural born inventor : Jean-Claude Novaro

I have a great respect for inventors. Above all I deeply respect independent inventors ; I call them "natural born inventors", because they always have a high intuition and cleverness, and these characteristics may be seen as natural. Actually these people are always passionate about their professional, technical activity, and work really hard. Through hard working and passion they gather such a profound knowledge and experience of their matter that they become real masters, who are then able to invent and to innovate along their career.

Arnaud, an excellent friend of mine, economist, seasoned sculptor, and passionate about arts, introduced me some years ago to such a natural born inventor, namely Jean-Claude Novaro. I was very lucky to see him glassblowing one morning.

Jean-Claude Novaro is a worldwide known glassworks artist living and working on the French Riviera. As explained on his gallery's website (http://www.galerie-novaro.fr/novaro_english.html), he was taught by a great master and further pursued his apprenticeship by self-searching and self-experimenting. This is the mark of great inventors, innovators, masters and artists : they have never finished experimenting and learning. They constantly evolve.

He told me about two great technical innovations which he introduced in the world of artistic glassworks, and which allow him to enhance his artistic power :

* a way to introduce thin gold films into his glassworks (see example below) : the problem to solve was that at the glass working and blowing temperature, gold melts and therefore cannot be introduced

* a way to make so that glassworks generate phosphorescent light in the darkness, after having been exposed to daylight (see example below)

These technical solutions are kept secret.


By the way, there are three ways to protect an invention :
* to keep the secret
* to obtain a patent
* to publish a part (sufficiently in order to impede its patenting by somebody else, and insufficiently so as to make copies very difficult)

TRIZ master Nikolai Khomenko

In the last post I shortly wrote about OTSM-TRIZ and his founder, TRIZ master Nikolai Khomenko.

A few days later, I was informed by a TRIZ colleague that Nikolai Khomenko passed away, aged 57. He was so young. Sad news for the TRIZ community... Some testimonies and comments about this very much appreciated man and TRIZ figure can be found here :

http://www.tetris-project.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95:nikkhomhasgone&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=56&lang=fr

http://www.triz-journal.com/forum/showmessage.asp?messageID=1988

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6907054178&v=wall&viewas=0

http://www.realinnovation.com/forum/showmessage.asp?messageID=2005

http://www.thinking-approach.org/index.php?id=3037&PHPSESSID=b85d7ae4447920e43080a021190192d8

http://triz-experience.blogspot.com/

The 2011 edition of ETRIA TRIZ Future conference to be held in Dublin from the 2nd to the 4th of November will be dedicated to his memory (http://etria.net/portal/)

Invitation to two OTSM-TRIZ websites

To people interested by TRIZ and who can read French, I recommend to go to, to read and to follow the following blog :

http://triz-experience.blogspot.com/

This blog is written and maintained by Yves Guillou, technical director of a French SME, 48 years old, who studied in 2007 at Insa de Strasbourg, France, and obtained an Advanced Master in Innovative Design (see current programme : http://www.insa-strasbourg.fr/fr/mastere-specialise-conception-innovante/). This is an academic way of learning TRIZ in France. The existence of this very interesting Master deserves to be well-known.
Yves entitled his blog "TRIZ et OTSM-TRIZ, quelques réflexions personnelles sur cette théorie". Like my blog, it is only at the beginning. You will find valuable information about TRIZ fundamentals, concepts and techniques. As explained in his introductive post, Yves proposes a step-by-step approach to TRIZ, which is made accessible to anyone.

You will also find on his blog a video and related explanations about a real industrial innovation which was realized by Yves Guillou (my congratulations !) (see : http://triz-experience.blogspot.com/2011/02/un-exemple-concret-dapplication.html), using TRIZ and OTSM-TRIZ. This is the first example of TRIZ success stories that I promised to post on this blog. OTSM-TRIZ was created by Nikolai Khomenko, who taught him in 2007. I consider OTSM-TRIZ as an extension of classical TRIZ. As far as I know (for there is no public synthesis of this theory, and only a few publications which are insufficient to get the whole picture), the essential contribution of OTSM-TRIZ to classical TRIZ is the introduction of two concepts : problems' network and contradictions' network. Yves' intent is to later explain how to use the problems' network. I am personally looking forward to reading this post.

Last thing, I also invite you to discover the following website about OTSM-TRIZ, which is written by the former Yves Guillou and his friend Séverine Baudrux (initially teacher, currently trainer), in English this time :

http://sites.google.com/site/otsmtriz/

You will find there very beautiful heuristic maps and TRIZ-related icons (see an example below ; this is the Size-Time-Cost operator) which help TRIZ users to have a good grasp of the different concepts and tools. Nice job !

John Koza's invention machine : comment

The former article illustrates the very interesting, emerging possibility of computerized invention. Does it mean that human beings will soon be replaced by computers ?
Absolutely not.
Let's recall the characteristic shared by all inventions which can be generated with the help of genetic programming : they result from structural or geometrical modifications of known elements which have known functions. It is probable that the level of such inventions is systematically among the 2 first levels of invention (reminder : TRIZ proposes 5 levels of invention).
But it happens that the majority of real inventions (2nd level and above) do not possess the same characteristic. The majority of real inventions solve problems which are not programmable. Why ? Because most real inventions solve contradictions, and therefore are not the fruit of an optimization. The "new element" which will solve the problem is, until now, not programmable. Otherwise, it would be already known by the programmer / designer, and consequently already found by him / her, a human being.

Human inventors and problem solvers have a (bright) future. Phew !

John Koza's invention machine

In former articles of this blog, it has been seen that people usually invent or solve problems :
* thanks to their intuition, their common sense (see the article named "Wine tradeshow") ;
* thanks to the deep knowledge of their environment (see for instance the black hornets' problem) ;
* thanks to the deep knowledge of their specialty field, to tests and experiments (as usually engineers and technicians do in the industry), computerized simulations included.

I stress that TRIZ practitionners invent and solve problems. Some other systematic methods can help, too.

Let us try to envision the future : will it be possible one day that machines invent like human beings ?

Actually these days have already come : since 1995 John Koza's computers have produced several inventions  (i.e. patentable designs), mainly in the field of electrical circuits, but not only.

Thus John Koza (see picture above), a world specialist in his field, developed genetic programming for automated design, whereas before his pioneering discovery, people used genetic programming for global optimization. In other words, instead of changing only physical parameters of a physical model, Koza makes the design, the structure itself of an object or a system evolving through genetic algorithms. This genetical evolution mimics somehow the process of darwinian evolution of life. Based on this work, a colleague of his from NASA, used such algorithms to design a microwave antenna (see below the picture of an evolved antenna), which fulfilled all the technical requirements of its spatial mission (http://www.genetic-programming.com/c2003jasonlohn20031124talk.pdf). The shape of the resulting antenna was unexpected (http://www.genetic-programming.com/coursemainpage.html) , and it is believed that no human being could have thought of this strange structure.

Who does need TRIZ for inventing and problem solving ?

Let us recognize it, even if it is obvious : an immense majority of inventions are the fruits of inventors who :
* did not use TRIZ for their inventions
* do not know how TRIZ works
* have eventually (or surely !) never heard about TRIZ
In other words, I assume that nowadays in the world, 99,x % (0<x<1, x still to be estimated) of the inventors invent without TRIZ.
(Why ? Because TRIZ is still not very widespread. Why ? One of the reasons is that it is difficult to learn and apply : the training which is necessary to be able to apply TRIZ efficiently requires efforts, time and motivation. But this is another debate ...)

Let us assume that some seldom inventors (y %, y close to 1) are so inventive, that they do not need TRIZ. In other words, they are so brilliant that TRIZ would be of no help for them. Usually these seldom inventors have made very high level inventions (TRIZ distinguishes between 5 invention levels, and these inventors have mainly produced inventions of 4th and 5th levels). An example of a 5th level invention is the blue diode (http://archive.sciencewatch.com/jan-feb2000/sw_jan-feb2000_page3.htm) (see the picture of its inventor below)

(to go to the source of the picture, click on it)

As a result, I am absolutely convinced that TRIZ can potentially help (99,x - y)% of inventors who already invented, and the equivalently immense majority of people who would like to invent.
The same arguments work also for problem solvers and problem solving.

(to go to the source of the cartoon, click on it)

Dolphin's sleep answer & congratulations to solvers

Congratulations to Serge Haumont (member of this blog) !

He found the solution to the dolphin's sleep problem (without looking into the knowledge fund).

Let us summarize the problematic situation.

If the dolphin sleeps, he will die by drowning (first he will lack oxygen and could eventually die from it).

If the dolphin does not sleep he will finally die from exhausting.

Of course, in the reality, the dolphin sleeps without any problem. The problem is stated only for the illustration of a physical contradiction and its resolution.

It has been already seen here that it is possible to solve a physical contradiction by separating in space or in time the two opposite requirements. Let us apply the two suggested types of separation :

* separation in time : during T1 the dolphin's brain is in its sleepy state, and during T2 the dolphin's brain is in its awaken state. Let's remark that the situation during T1 is exacly the problematic situation which is considered here, in the case where T1 is the sleep duration (or duration of a sleep cycle). Consequently, in this case, nothing is solved and we have walked along a circle. If T1 is of a much lower order of magnitude than a sleep cycle, for instance of the order of magnitude of a breathe, then the problem is theoretically solved : it is suggested that :

     * the dolphin is awake during a complete breathe, then

     * the dolphin gets asleep for a short duration, while he is in apnea, then

     * the former cycle begins again and again

This is a strange way of sleeping ! A theoretical art of the micro-nap

(congratulations to David G. - member of this blog - and my father who suggested directly to me such a solution - this is not the spirit of the blog, however - )

* separation in space : one part of the brain does not sleep, and at the same time, the other part of the brain stays awake. This is exactly what the dolphin does, naturally of course. A structural property of the brain of mammals is used : the natural spatial separation of the brain into two hemispheres (of course some other parts of the brain exist ...). Practically the dolphin "solves" the initially stated problem and sleeps in the following way :

      * first the dolphin :

            * fulfills the function "regeneration" by sleeping with the left hemisphere

            * fulfills the function "breathing" by staying awake (and then controlling this function) with the right hemisphere

      * afterwards (after a sleep cycle, I assume) the former separation in space is inverted :

            * the function "regeneration" is symmetrically fulfilled with the right hemisphere (not only the body must regenerate, the brain must also regenerate)

            * the function "breathing" is ensured by the left hemisphere which stays awake

On the above image, one observes the left fin of the dolphin which is kept horizontal thanks to its activity which is maintained by the waking activity of its right hemisphere ; conversely the right fin is vertical for it is not active, in relationship with the sleepy left hemisphere. The red and blue colors correspond to the right and left parts of the dolphin, respectively (as indicated in Italian language on the Figure). The arrows' ends should be inverted for a correct description of the phenomenon. The curves 1 to 6 are electroencephalograms' excerpts, whereas the other graphs measure the activity of the fins. 

(source of the image : http://www.scienzagiovane.unibo.it/English/sleep/3-sleep-animals.html)

As a conclusion, it can be noticed that :

* the dolphin's sleep problem is solved by both separations in space and in time

* an internal resource of the system is used for the problem solving : actually it is a structural property : the brain of mammals which is naturally separated (in space) into two hemispheres

Furthermore the concept of function has been introduced. It is of very high importance within TRIZ. 

Eliminating a physical contradiction : "red eyes" continued

Let's continue with the red eyes' problem.

The physical contradiction that we obtained is (with a slight re-formulation which expresses better the reality) :
PC : The pupils are dilated because of the relative darkness, and the pupils should be non dilated in order to avoid the red eyes' phenomenon

There are canonical heuristics for the resolution of physical contradictions. As mentioned in "Engineering of creativity" (Savransky, 2000), Altshuller developed 11 such heuristics. Some TRIZniks extended this earlier set of heuristics. Among these one finds 4 separations methods which help eliminating physical contradictions, and two of them are very often used :
* separation in space : one part of the subsystem has property A and the other part has property non-A
* separation in time : the subsystem has property A during one period and afterwards it has property non-A

In our problem :
* subsystem = pupils
* property = dilation
* system (minimal) = eyes (including pupils) ; photo camera (including flash)
* harmful effect = red eyes' phenomenon

Is it possible to separate the dilated / non dilated states of the pupils ? Yes.
How ? In time.

Actually the relative darkness is underwent : it is part of the environment. But it is possible to induce when one wants the contraction of the pupils with a given resource of the system : the flash of the camera. Finally, in a chronological sequence :
* the pupils are originally dilated because of the relative darkness
* the photographer pushes the button, and a first flash occurs
* consequently, in a short time frame, the pupils contract
* automatically, after a pre-set short time period, a second flash occurs during the taking of the photograph
* consequently, the pupils contract (but this is not used ...)
* the pupils go back to their original state : dilated because of the relative darkness

The initial problem has been solved, and an additional positive effect may occur : the first flash desensitizes (partly in terms of probability) the propency of eyes to blink under a flash ; in other words, if the eyes are sensitive to the flash, they will blink during the first flash.

Note that we face now another problem created by this solution, that we may express as a pair of technical contradictions :
* TC1 : If one uses the double flash, one avoids the red eyes' phenomenon, but the photography is taken with some delay after the button pressing
* TC2 : If one does not use the double flash, the photography is taken when the button is pressed (**), but the red eyes' phenomenon is not avoided
(** : almost, indeed)

How to solve this newly induced problem ? This new problem is open.

Note also that in some conditions, professional photographers orient the flash towards the ceiling, so that :
* the eyes blink with a much decreased probability
* the red eyes' phenomenon does not occur
* additionally the photograph is of high quality, for the bodies' skins are not whitened by the flash

Is it possible to solve the newly appeared problem, in any darkness conditions, and for any amateur photographer ?

To choose well a physical contradiction

Following the former article about the definitions of different types of contradictions, it is proposed to further study the red eyes' problem.
As already said, the physical contradiction proposed for this problem was not well chosen. Why ? Because :
* it does not bring something new with regard to the pair of technical contradictions : it is a plain re-formulation of the TCs
* it does not go into the physical mechanisms responsible for the problem

For the sake of simplification, let us say that the red eyes' appearance on a photograph is caused by dilated pupils. Dilated pupils are caused by the relative darkness, which in turn necessitates the use of a flash.

Consequently, another physical contradiction can be expressed :
PC : The pupils must be dilated because there is a relative darkness, and the pupils must be non dilated to avoid the red eyes' phenomenon

Now the physical contradiction is rightly chosen. Actually it expresses opposite states (dilated / non dilated) of a part of the system (pupils) which is at the root cause of the initial problem.

In a coming article, it will be shown how to ultimately solve this physical contradiction

Definition of a physical contradiction

The concept of contradiction is key in TRIZ, and one major contribution of the method.

There are 3 different types of contradiction which always come in the following order : administrative contradiction, technical contradiction and physical contradiction.

Now let us imagine the following : it is wished to transform an undesired situation into a desired one. The gap existing between both situations is the problem to be solved. If it is not known how to solve it, one faces an inventive situation. Let us consider the problem of the red eyes when a photography is taken in the direction of the eyes with a flash. This problem is already (almost) solved in modern cameras, but let us use it for illustration.
Then one defines :

* Inventive situation : it is necessary to take a photograph with a flash & without red eyes

* Administrative contradiction : it is necessary to take a photograph with a flash & without red eyes, but how to make it is not known

* Technical contradiction (which has two opposite formulations TC1 and TC2)
    * TC1 : if one does not use a flash, there is no red eyes' phenomenon, but the photograph is dark
    * TC2 : if one uses a flash, the photograph is bright, but the red eyes' phenomenon appears

* Physical contradiction (PC) : one needs a flash to get a bright photograph, and one does not need a flash to avoid the red eyes' phenomenon

The former definition is here only to show you the structure of a PC, but the former PC is chosen badly. It will be shown in a next article how to chose a right physical contradiction, which is helpful for the solving of the problem.

Remarks :
* for a given problem, there may be different possible pairs of TC and different possible PC
* the pair of TC draws a compromise
* it is not always possible to define a pair of TC and an associated PC ; if it is possible, then the formerly defined pathway towards the PC can lead to a powerful solution, without compromise ; it will be explained in a future article how to solve a PC

Invitation to solve proposed problems / to propose problems

Hi !
It is also a purpose of this blog to make visitors thinking together.
So do not be afraid or shy and please propose your personal solutions, your thoughts, your ideas, your commentaries concerning the proposed problems.

Why ? Because :
* the thinking process of everybody is interesting (for oneself, for others), for we have all our own, unique way of thinking
* you may find the control solution, alternative solutions, among which may come better solutions than the control solution !
* according to my own experience, one learns much better to become a problem solver when one tries hard to solve problems and maybe even more when one "fails"
* making errors, "failing" is absolutely no problem : it is part of our human kind ; here this will not be judged (except for congratulations)
* it can be fun !

Additionally I open the possibility to anyone to submit open problems / challenges that may be of public interest. If you want to do this, drop me a line (stephane.savelli@gmail.com)

The meaning of re-solving or re-inventing with the help of TRIZ

Until today :
a) two messages (Baby's crying ; Black hornets) propose to re-solve problems which have already been solved by others
b) one message (Dolphin's sleep) proposes to re-invent (assuming one may use this verb, but this discussion is absolutely not the scope of this blog) an "innovation" of Mother Nature
c) one message (Wine trade show) proposes directly a solution to a real life problem

What is the meaning of such proposals, in the TRIZ frame ?
* they describe problems for which an inventive solution exists ; this point is extremely important because it is out of question to call TRIZ for problems with obvious solutions (this trend is unfortunately widespread in some books and on Internet, and is prejudicial to the TRIZ credibility)
* these problems and their solutions are understandable by everybody, not only specialized engineers ; therefore they are a good illustration field for the introduction of TRIZ fundaments to anyone
* even if the huge majority of problems (and inventions) are solved (created) without the help of TRIZ (see examples a) and c) above) - to solve and to invent are parts of the genius of the human kind, from the mere citizen to the great inventor - they might often have been solved with the help of TRIZ, and this approach can show how problems can be easier to solve than they apparently are
* to try hard to solve such problems constitutes a necessary training for the development of the TRIZ way of thinking

Page of advertising : invitation to online TRIZ training

I have been interested by TRIZ since 2004. I tried to learn TRIZ from books but it was insufficient to apply TRIZ to real technological problems nor to innovate. Furthermore it was frustrating to see the very high prices that were to pay individually to attend a TRIZ course of some days or one week. Finally I found an online TRIZ course : that of IID, the Institute of Innovative Design (http://triz-guide.com/).

That was the most interesting learning experience of my life.  I was taught by Yuri Salamatov (TRIZ master, famous TRIZ researcher, books author, who learned himself from Altshuller) a new way of thinking. It motivated me so much, that I decided to follow his example, and to launch my own TRIZ business.

I highly recommend the IID online TRIZ course. It can be a great experience for you too. I think that this is the best available online TRIZ course in the world. Furthermore Dr Yuri Salamatov is a brilliant teacher who will ask your best and will grow up your way of thinking.

If you are interested by the IID online TRIZ course, drop me a line (stephane.savelli@gmail.com) or send an e-mail directly to IID (info@triz-guide.com).

Meaning and purpose of TRIZ

TRIZ is a method which was created and developed between 1946 and the middle 1980s in the former USSR by Genrikh Altshuller (see picture below) and co-workers. After Althuller's death in 1998, the TRIZ research was not any more under his authority and many TRIZ people went their own way, and developed further the method.

TRIZ is a romanized Russian acronym meaning "theory of inventive problem solving".
It operates originally in the so-called technosphere (= all technological fields developed by the human kind).

Within this frame TRIZ can help engineers to solve tough problems and to invent. Note that there is a strong relationship between both : if one want to solve tough problems, one must often be inventive, and if one wants to invent, one must often solve a least one tough problem.

In this blog, among other topics, we will introduce step by step different aspects and tools of TRIZ. 

How to turn a(n) (apparent) drawback into an advantage

A friend of mine, who is mother of two kids, had a real life problem to solve.
She is in the process of launching an Internet wine business. A few months ago, she learned two days in advance that there was a wine trade show taking place in Brussels. What a great opportunity to meet a lot of prospects concentrated at the same place !
Unfortunately, for a number of reasons (her husband had an important meeting with customers; usual babysitters and grandmother were all unavailable; she did not want to let her baby to an unknown babysitter), she had to look after her baby on the day of the trade show.
She faced the following (apparently) unsolvable problem
* either to keep her baby at home and skip this opportunity
* or to go to the trade show with her baby and only take some business cards (in order to re-contact wine traders later), and in this case the opportunity would be missed too, because it is not professional to take contact with prospects with a baby

Finally she decided to go to the wine trade show with her baby. It turned out very naturally to be no problem for the wine traders to be prospected by a mum with a baby. On the contrary, the mum globally received a very positive feedback during the trade show, and above all, when the prospects were later re-contacted by her, they remembered her very well !

Finally, what was originally considered as an absolute drawback turned out to be a strong marketing advantage.

TRIZ tribute to recent innovations ?

Some friends have asked me a direct, practical question : which recent innovations have been developed with the help of the TRIZ method ? It is an important question which needs to be answered.
I have already collected a series of public examples over time. I will organize these data and publish them on this blog in the near future.

Problems' solutions

Once a right, control solution will be given, it will be acknowledged as soon as possible.
Creative, alternative solutions will also be acknowledged.
Explanations of solutions with the help of TRIZ instruments / methods will be much appreciated.

Otherwise, control solutions will be given after having received a sufficient number of trials.

Good luck, and good night !

Ethnic problem solving

One chinese ethnic group living in the Yunnan area (southwestern China) is very fond of black hornet larvae : they actually love to eat them, for they are fat and tasty.
There are two men from this ethnic group, sitting in a village garden, and suddenly wanting to eat these famous  larvae. They have first to localize a hornet nest in the wild forest. Afterwards one of them will put fire onto the nest, the dangerous black hornets (their bite may be lethal) will fly away and the two men will finally take the nest full of wonderful larvae.

It is out of question to search a hornet nest only by luck.
But how to localize with 100% probability a hornet nest ?
Which strategy is it necessary to invent and to apply ?

Here are some useful (and necessary) tips :
* in each garden of this village, there are banana trees
* black hornets like to suck the nectar of banana flowers
* black hornets like very much eating local grasshopers
* after a while, the black hornet flies back to its nest (obviously !)

Helped with the former tips, it seems easy to attract a black hornet without danger. Please concretize this first part of the strategy.

Once the black hornet has been attracted to some place, without danger, how to make so that the black hornet leads you to its nest ? What is the witty, smart solution found by the people of this ethnic group ? Note that it is impossible to follow a flying hornet by foot in the wild forest, because :
* it is difficult to follow with the eyes
* anyway it is much too quick

Tip :  the wild forest in these areas is not dense