A shorter version of this paper first appeared in
“Izobretenia” v.II, Autumn, 2000, the publication of the Altshuller
Institute.
Victor Fey
fey@trizgroup.com
© 2001 The TRIZ Group, LLC
TRIZ
is fast spreading in the technological world. Thousands of people become
acquainted with TRIZ every year through various presentations, courses,
seminars, and publications.
Often
TRIZ materials developed by different authors contain terminology unique to a
particular author and not used by others. This is mainly caused by variations in
translation from Russian. This creates confusion among TRIZ novices, for they
cannot always recognize the equivalency of different terms describing the same
notion (compare, for example, synonyms "Engineering Contradiction",
"Technical Contradiction", and "System Conflict" used by
different authors).
Frequently,
however, one can read articles that use the same names for different notions of
TRIZ. For instance, the term "Patterns of Technological System
Evolution" in some publications is equivalent to the term "Laws of
Technological System Evolution", and in other publications - to the term
"Lines of Technological System Evolution", although the latter two
terms are not identical (the Laws define general directions of evolution, while
the Lines specify particular stages of the evolution along these directions).
Use
of a common professional lingo is the necessary condition for effective
communication among the members of the global TRIZ community. The proposed
glossary is the first attempt to develop such a lingo for English-speaking TRIZ
practitioners.
The
glossary is not by any means exhaustive; it contains mainly basic terms of TRIZ
gleaned from various English-language literature source known to the author:
books, university courses, conference papers and on-line articles. Assembling a
comprehensive glossary of TRIZ that would adequately reflect the evolving body
of knowledge this science will require contributions from many enthusiasts. The
author will greatly appreciate any future help in improving this glossary.
A
B C
D E
F G
H
I
J K L
M N O
P Q R
S T
U V
W X Y Z
A
Algorithm
for Inventive Problem Solving (ARIZ)
The
central analytical tool of TRIZ (ARIZ is a Russian abbreviation). Its
basis is a sequence of logical procedures for analysis of a vaguely or
ill-defined initial
problem/situation and transforming it into a distinct System
Conflict. Consideration of the System Conflict leads to the
formulation of a Physical
Contradiction whose elimination is provided by maximal utilization of
the resources of the subject system. ARIZ
puts together in a system most fundamental concepts and methods of TRIZ such as IdealTechnological System
(Ideal System), System Conflict, Physical
Contradiction, Substance-Field Analysis, Standards,
and the Laws
of Technological System Evolution.
Altshuller's
Matrix
See
Conflict Matrix
Altshuller's metrics
See
Technology
assessment curves
Anticipatory Failure Determination
A
TRIZ-based method for analysis and prevention of design failure modes.
Article
See
Object
Auxiliary
function
A
function
supporting the system's Primary
Function.
Auxiliary
tool
A
tool
supporting the performance of the maintool(s).
Particularly, auxiliary tools perform measurement and/or detection in a system
whose Primary
Function is
not measurement or detection.
B
Biased bi(poly)-systems
See
Shifted
bi(poly)-systems
Bi-system
A
system consisting of two mono-systems.
C
Chain
sufield
A
sufield
of the type shown below:
Coefficient
of convolution, Cc
A measure of the system's Degree
of Ideality
– a ratio of the number of sufields
to the number of elements of these sufields (or a ratio of the number of functions to the number of sufield elements
involved in the performance of these functions). For an elementary
sufield,
Cc = 1/3; for a chain
sufield,
Cc = 2/5; for a double
sufield, Cc = 1/2.
Completely
convoluted bi- or poly-system
A
completely integrated bi-
or poly-system
performing two or more functions.
In such systems, sub-systems responsible for individual functions are merged
into a substance; their separation is impossible without disintegrating the
whole system (e.g., in photochromic reading glasses, two functions - eyesight
enhancement and shielding sun lights - are performed by one substance of the
lens material).
Compound
(complex) sufield
A
sufield
of the type shown below:
Conflict Area
See
Conflict Domain
Conflict
Domain (Operation
Zone, Conflict Area)
In ARIZ,
a space in the system that contains conflicting components.
Conflict
Matrix (Contradiction
Matrix, Altshuller’s Matrix)
A
39x39 matrix linking Typical System Conflicts with the Inventive Principles.
Conflicting
components
System's components involved in a SystemConflict.
Contradiction
Matrix
See ConflictMatrix.
Convolution (Integration,
Trimming, Pruning)
An
evolutionary process of increasing the Degreeof Ideality
by elimination of sub-systems and assigning their functions
to other sub-systems.
D
Degree of Ideality
A measure of the system's ideality usually expressed as the
ratio of the system's
functionality over the system's cost:
Directed
Evolution
See TRIZ
Technology Forecasting
Double
sufield
A sufield of the type shown below:
E
Effect
Result of interaction of fields and substances. An individual
effect can be modeled as follows:
Elementary sufield
A
sufield
containing two substances and a field:
Engineering
Conflict
See System
Conflict
Engineering
Contradiction
See System
Conflict
Environment
Immediate physical surroundings of
a technological system or of its part.
F
Field
The
energy needed for interaction of two substances.
In addition to four fundamental fields - electromagnetic, gravitational, and
nuclear fields of weak and strong interactions - TRIZ deals with engineering
fields, such as mechanical, thermal, electric, magnetic, and chemical. These
fields manifest themselves through many groups of physical and chemical
phenomena.
Function
A
purposeful physical interaction between two components of a technological
system. Description of a function includes the names of the physical
action and of the object
of the action.
G
Generic Principles for Overcoming Physical
Contradictions
See
Separation
Principles
Guided
Technology Evolution
See TRIZ
Technology Forecasting
H
Harmful
function/action
A function/action
that hinders performance of the Primary
Function.
Heterogeneous
bi(poly)-system
A system consisting of mono-systems
performing different functions.
Higher-level
system
See
Supersystem.
Homogeneous
bi(poly)-system
A system consisting of mono-systems
performing similar or identical functions.
I
Ideal
Final Result
An ideal solution of an engineering design problem based on
the notion of Ideal
Technological System.
Ideal
Technological System
A system that is absent as a physical entity, but that fully
perfoms the prescribed function.
Incomplete
sufield
A sufield
containing fewer than three elements.
Initial Situation (Initial
Problem)
Original problem statement,
usually a cluster of various problems.
Integration
See Convolution.
Inventive
Principles
There
are 50 typical techniques (operators) for overcoming System
Conflicts;
many of them may contain a few sub-techniques.
Inverse
bi(poly)-system
A system whose sub-systems have opposite properties.
K
Knowledge Base of Engineering Applications of Physical,
Chemical and Geometric Effects
A
set of physical, chemical and geometric effects arranged by a functional
principle.
L
Law of Completeness
This law states that an autonomous technological system must
include four minimally functioning principal parts:
an engine, a transmission, a working means, and a control means.
Law
of Elimination of Human Involvement
This
law states that technological systems evolve in the direction of delegation
functions performed by humans to technological systems.
Laws
of Engineering System Evolution
See
Laws
of Technological System Evolution
Law of Harmonization
This
law states that the necessary condition for existence of an effective
technological system is coordination of periodicity of actions (or natural
frequencies) of its parts.
Law of Increasing Controllability
This
law states that technological systems evolve in the direction of increased
controllability of their components; this is often achieved by transition from elementary sufields to double
and chain sufields.
Law of Increasing Degree
of Ideality
The
primary law of evolution of technological systems. It states that technological
systems evolve in the direction of increasing their Degree
of Ideality.
Law of Increasing
Flexibility (Law of Increasing Dynamism)
This
law states that technological systems evolve in the direction toward more
flexible structures capable of adaptation to changing environmental conditions
(multi-functionality) and to varying performance regimes.
Law
of Non-Uniform Evolution of Sub-Systems
This
law states that different sub-systems of technological systems evolve at
different rates (along their own S-curves);
this causes development of System Conflicts.
Law of Shortening of Energy Flow Path
This
law states that technological systems evolve in the direction of shortening of
energy passage through the system (from the engine to the working means).
Laws
of Technological System Evolution
(Laws of Engineering System Evolution, Patterns of Technological System
Evolution, Trends of Technological System Evolution)
The
Laws reflect significant, stable, and repeatable interactions betweenelements of
technological systems and between the systems and their environments in the
process of evolution.
Law of Transition to a Higher-Level System (Law of Transition
to a Supersystem)
This
law states that technological systems evolve in the general direction from mono-systems
to bi-
and poly-systems.
Law of Transition to a Micro-Level
This
law states that technological systems evolve in the general direction of
fragmentation of their components (first of all, fragmentation of working
means).
Level
of Invention
A qualitative measure of the degree of novelty of an
invention.
Lines
of Evolution
The
Lines identify specific stages of evolution associated with particular Laws
of
Technological System Evolution.
M
Macro
Physical Contradiction
In
ARIZ,
a Physical Contradiction
formulated at the level of the whole component (e.g., the rod must be hot and
cold).
Main tool
A
tool performing
the Primary Function.
Maxi-problem
A
problem associated with major modifications of a system, i.e., with changing its
physical principle of functioning.
Micro
Physical Contradiction
In
ARIZ, a Physical
Contradiction formulated for the
components' ingredients (particles), e.g., for the rod to be both hot and cold,
its particles must be moving both fast and slowly.
Minimal
technological system
A
system consisting of an object,
tool, and energy
of their interaction. It can be modeled by an elementary
sufield.
Mini-problem
A
problem formulated according to the rule: “The system remains unchanged or
even simplifies, but the harmful effect disappears, or a useful effect is
obtained.” When solving a mini-problem, the physical principle of the system’s
functioning is not changed.
Mono-system
A
system performing one function.
O
Object
(Article, Product)
A
component of the system that is to be controlled (processed, modified, e.g.,
moved, machined, bent, turned, heated, expanded, charged, illuminated, measured,
detected, etc.).
Operation
Zone
See Conflict Domain
P
Partially
convoluted bi(poly)-system
A
bi- or poly-system with reduced number of auxiliary components.
Patterns
of Technological System Evolution
See
Laws
of Technological System Evolution
Physical action
A
physical mechanism that enables performance of a specific function. For example, a function
"cleaning a chemical solution from contaminants” may be based on such
diverse physical actions as "moving the contaminants away from the
solution", or "disintegration of the contaminants", and others.
Physical
Contradiction
A
situation when the same component must satisfy mutually exclusive demands to its
physical state, e.g., be hot and cold, electrically conductive and insulative,
etc.
Poly-system
A
system consisting of more than two mono-systems.
Primary Function
The
main purpose of existence of a technological system.
Product
See
Object.
Pruning
See
Convolution.
Psychological
inertia
Predilection
toward conventional ways to analyze and solve problems.
R
Resources
Substances,
fields and other
attributes of a technological system (e.g., time of functioning, occupied space,
etc.) as well as of its environment and of an overall system that can be
utilized to improve the system.
S
S-curve
Evolution
of technological systems can be illustrated by an S-shaped curve reflecting
changes of the system's main performance characteristics (or its benefit-to-cost
ratio, Degree
of Ideality) with time since its
inception.
Separation
Principles
The
approaches to resolving Physical
Contradictions: Separation of opposite properties in space,
separation of opposite properties in time, separation of opposite properties
between a system and its components.
Shifted
bi(poly)-systems (Biased
bi(poly)-systems)
Bi-
or poly-systems
whose functionally identical sub-systems differ in certain parameters such as
size, color, weight, electrical conductivity, etc.
Standard
Approaches to Solving Problems (Standard
Solutions, Standard Techniques, Standards)
A
set of the most effective typical transformations of technological systems based
on the Laws of Technological System Evolution.
Many Standards
are written in the Substance-Field language.
Substance
In
the Substance-Field Analysis, an
element of a sufield, a technological system of any degree of complexity
participating in performance of a function
(physicalaction).
Substance-Field
(Sufield) Analysis
A
branch of TRIZ studying transformation and evolution of sufield structures.
Sufield
A model of technological system consisting of substances
and fields.
Super-effect
An unexpected benefit of
invention.
Supersystem
(Higher-level system)
System that includes the system under consideration as a
sub-system.
System Conflict (Engineering Contradiction, Technical Contradiction)
An
interaction between system's parts when the useful function/action
causes simultaneously a harmful effect, or introduction (intensification) of the
useful function/action, or elimination or reduction of the harmful
function/action causes deterioration or unacceptable complication of one of the
parts or of the whole system.
T
Technology
assessment curves (Altshuller metrics)
These
curves ("Number of inventions vs. Time", "Level of inventions vs.
Time", "Profitability of inventions vs. Time") are used to define
the position of the systemon its S-curve.
Tool
A
component having direct physical interaction with an object (i.e., controlling the
object).
Tool-Object-Product
(TOP) Analysis
A
techniques for linking Functional and Substance-Field
Analyses.
Trends of Technological
System Evolution
See
Laws of Technological System Evolution.
Trimming
See
Convolution.
TRIZ
Technology Forecasting (Directed Evolution, Guided Technology Evolution)
A
systematic TRIZ approach to conceptual development of next-generation products
and processes.
Typical
System Conflicts (Typical
Engineering Contradictions, Typical Technical Contradictions)
Despite
immense diversity of technological systems, there is a finite number of typical System
Conflicts such as productivity vs.
accuracy, reliability vs. complexity, shape vs. speed, etc. These System
Conflicts can usually be resolved by application of the Inventive
Principles
Typical
Techniques for Overcoming System Conflicts
See
Inventive
Principles.
U
Useful function/action
A
function/action
that contributes to the performance of the Primary
Function.
V
Void
Void
is a discontinuity in a substance. Void is an exceptional resource, for it is
always available, extremely cheap and can be easily mixed with other resources,
forming, for instance, hollow and porous structures, foam, bubbles, etc.
Bibliography
-
Altshuller,
G.S., And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared, Technical Innovation
Center, Worcester, MA, 1997.
-
Altshuller,
G.S., Creativity as an Exact Science, Gordon and Breach, N.Y., N.Y.,
1988.
-
Altshuller,
G.S., The Innovation Algorithm, Technical Innovation Center,
Worcester, MA, 1999.
-
Altshuller, G.S., 40
Principles: TRIZ Keys to Technical Innovation,
Technical
Innovation Center, Worcester, MA, 1999.
-
Fey
V., Rivin E., The Science of Innovation: A Managerial Overview of the
TRIZ Methodology, The TRIZ Group, MI, 1997.
-
Fey
V., Rivin E., Fundamentals of TRIZ, Course Book, Wayne State
University, Detroit, MI, 2001.
-
Salamatov
Y., TRIZ: The Right Solution at the Right Time, Insytec, The
Netherlands, 1999.
-
Terninko,
J., Zlotin, B., Zusman, A., Systematic Innovation: An Introduction to
TRIZ, Responsible Management, NH, 1997.
Web Sources:
-
Ideation International,
Inc., http://www.ideationtriz.com
-
Invention Machine
Corporation, http://www.invention-machine.com
-
TRIZ Consulting, Inc.,
http://www.trizconsulting.com
-
The TRIZ Journal, http://www.triz-journal.com
-
The TRIZ Group, LLC, http://www.trizgroup.com
