BIO-INSPIRED DESIGN METHODOLOGY BASED ON A SEMANTIC MAP, USEABLE IN CAD ENVIRONMENT

New product development forms part of PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) which starts with the idea generation phase. This first step exerts an enormous impact on the reduction of costs and could subsequently produce a high return on investment. That is the underlying motivation for this research, the goal of which is to formulate a methodology, which might be used during the idea generation phase for innovative concepts. To ensure market competitiveness companies are pushing for more efficient and innovative product development. PLM allows for a better understanding of intellectual capital and the integration of different tools and methods to lead to new opportunities. CAD (Computer Aided Design) plays a key role in PLM and NPD (New Product Development). CAD initiates with sketches developed by using geometry. The aim of this research is to create a new methodology for concept generation, which can be used in CAD environments. The methodology therefore focuses on the space field; taking inspiration from biological systems, to maximize efficiency, and from technical systems, to use innovative principles. One aim is to overcome psychological inertia, intended as an indisposition to change inscribed in the human brain. This might be achieved by abstracting the area of solutions, which enhances the capacity of forming new mental associations, overcoming habits, shortcuts and preconceived solutions. Classes of biological geometrical features have been selected, described and related to the eco-efficiency effects. In order to carry out a validity test on the chosen key-features which described as bio-inspired geometrical features, a One Tail Hypothesis Test has been formulated (see paragraph 3.5). The experiment involves using the filters of eco-efficient parameters as established by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The first 210 patents were selected to establish whether there exists a level of correspondence which might lead to acknowledging the key features as being related with efficiency. This step has been devised as fundamental to proceed with the subsequent selection of patents (see Chapter 4). 10 couples of analogies for every feature have been selected, taking samples from the biological and technical populations (international patents) as described in Chapter 4. A reading system for each resulting pair has then been constructed. The differences of language used when comparing the functions, the similarities given by the geometrical variables, the inventive spatial principles of TRIZ and the eco-parameters of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have all been taken into account in the design of the reading system. The current number of 70 couples serves only as a starting point and the number could be extended with representative examples, with the consequent reduction in uncertainty. The information obtained through the couples of analogies has been used to build a semantic mapping. This allows for enhanced integration with CAD and therefore in the complex product lifecycle management systems. In this way the information becomes more accessible, it can be modified, shared and used by all those involved in the diverse stages of the design process. The process involves a series of choices to be executed at every stage and in every area to create specific ontology. It is dependent on a set of concepts and the relationship which operate between concepts and domains. The resultant system of relations has been reproduced in a semantic map using Protégé.