We have developed a new method which was implemented by a mixed academic-industrial team. The execution of this project was not only a way to expand the company's product portfolio (i.e. deliver industrial value), but also a way to provide simultaneous education for the company's engineers and students. Within the expansion of company's product portfolio, the knowledge twisting method has also been applied to conceptualise the new products (allocation of elementary function carriers).
COBISS.SI-ID: 11323675
Knowledge twisting is defined as a kind of manipulation of Physics P/Structure S/Design D in order to achieve various Function(s) F. This paper presents a method in which prior synthesis of function structure is not required for product concept. Empirical analysis has shown that the use of this method does not lead to a combinatorial explosion. The method is based on the chaining of physical laws and complementary basic schemata.
COBISS.SI-ID: 11043099
To enable semi-automated synthesis of conceptual technical systems (TS) on the basis of physical laws basic schemata (BS) have been introduced. BS consist of four elementary structural elements (point, line, surface and volume). Engineers from different engineering domains were asked to generate conceptual TS on the basis of automatically generated chains of physical laws and BS. It was shown that engineers with different educational background will generate different conceptual structures, although concepts operate on the basis of the same physical laws.
COBISS.SI-ID: 10833947
The starting point for creating the structure of conceptual TS are physical laws, that are required to fulfil the desired function. In order to enable connections between individual physical laws and TS structure, basic schemata (BS) are introduced. BS consist of geometrical elements and physical quantities. They represent the necessary structure for realisation of the complementary physical laws. BS are applied for embodiment of the parts and they enable their assembly into complex TS. Connections between BS reveal physical nature of TS.
COBISS.SI-ID: 10517787
The strategic alliance of several European universities has formed an “E-GPR” (European Global Product Realization) study course as a response to the product development challenges. We describe the setup of the course, the results, and provide some reflections. The students gain valuable experience in engineering competences (the knowledge twisting is introduced and applied within the conceptualisation of a product) also in soft-skills. Soft-skills are becoming more and more required by industrial companies. E-GPR serves as a testbed for the knowledge twisting activities since 2008.
COBISS.SI-ID: 11067675