Abstract
Conceptual design typically entails co-evolution of the design problem and the design solution: initial problem formulations lead to preliminary solutions; incremental changes in the proposed solution lead to new insights into the design problem, and so on. In this paper, we describe a complementary process: problem evolution using analogies to already existing design cases. In particular, we present a case study in the context of biologically inspired design that inspects the evolution of an ill-defined design problem from inception to conceptual design. This case study demonstrates three important aspects of problem evolution from inception: first, significant problem evolution may occur independent of the generation of a new design solution for that problem; second, existing solutions to related problems serve as analogies that influence the way in which the problem is formulated; and third, the use of existing solutions from different domains, for example from existing biological solutions to engineering design problems, generates value not only by offering both potentially innovative solutions but also by changing the formulation of the problem itself.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the instructors of the Georgia Tech ME/ISyE/MSE/PTFe/BIOL 4740 course, especially its coordinator Professor Jeannette Yen. We also thank the student designers in the class for their input in this study. This paper has benefited from many discussions with Bryan Wiltgen, Swaroop Vattam, and Jeannette Yen. This research was supported by a US National Science Foundation CreativeIT grant (#0855916) entitled “Computational Tools for Enhancing Creativity in Biologically Inspired Engineering Design.”
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Helms, M.E., Goel, A.K. (2014). Analogical Problem Evolution in Biologically Inspired Design. In: Gero, J. (eds) Design Computing and Cognition '12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9112-0_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9112-0_1
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