Inventions for smugglers and pharmacists + training your research institute

If you start a technical project or have been working for a long time, check: can everything be done much easier and more efficiently?

This is the second article from the NII series (Not Artificial Intelligence), in which I talk about some techniques of invention (read, about solutions to solving technical problems in managing a project).



In the last article I told 2 stories with one common problem. Today, a little more is waiting for you: 2 more entertaining stories, recommendations and techniques for working with psychological inertia and an inventive task for training.



And looking ahead, I’ll say that the series of articles by the scientific research institute will continue, and today's inventive task will become part of a large innovative project that we will create from scratch right here.

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But the details about the project and its first task at the end of the article, but for now the first story:

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Story # 1

One pharmaceutical company has developed a new medicine for the eyes, the medicine is extremely effective, but in practice it could not be used. The problem was that eye drops have their own specific application, namely, uneven action. Initially, an excess amount of the drug is buried, since it is quickly washed away by the tear fluid, then at a certain (very short) point in time the dosage of the drug becomes optimal, then it decreases.



Overdose was not acceptable for a new drug, and it is useless to drop the optimal dose, because he will not have time to act.



The huge pharmaceutical company did not cope with this task with its own forces, but one person could. He offered…

... to release the drug in the form of a soluble film, something like a disposable contact lens, only from easily soluble substances. It turns out that the tear fluid gradually dissolves the film, releasing the same dose of medication for quite a long time.

End of story number 1

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The basis of this invention is to overcome a very strong kind of psychological inertia "Inertia of the usual principle of action." We are used to the fact that the medicine for the eyes is drops, that the corkscrew is a screw wire, that programming is writing code.

But the corkscrew can also be pneumatic, and the program can be “written” in Excel with the help of formulas and functions without knowing any programming languages, and it is possible to do with mechanics in some situations.



In addition, this story and the examples I have given illustrate another kind of psychological inertia “Inertia of familiar terms”.

Overcoming techniques:

1. Replace all terms with neutral words, such as “gizmo”, “something”, etc.



2. Get away from the "piece of iron", from the subject consideration of a familiar object, proceed to the consideration of its properties and functions.



An example of using these recommendations will be discussed below, when we analyze our inventive task, but for now the second story:

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Story number 2

During the times of Prohibition in the USA, gangs of smugglers smuggling alcohol into the country naturally existed, most of the smuggling went by sea. And naturally, in contrast to them, there were law enforcement agencies that prevented this, incl. maritime police.



For a long time, smugglers suffered losses if they were overtaken by naval police at sea. The fact is that they had to throw alcohol overboard by tying a load so that it drowned. Floats can not be tied, because Otherwise, the police will be able to get "evidence" from the water, so the "goods" were forgiven forever.



And so it went, until one of the bandits came up with tying a bag of salt as a load, instead of a stone. With time, the salt dissolved in the water and the crates with the bottles floated up, of course, after the police had searched the vessel and removed it back home.

End of story number 2

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In the second story, the gangsters were hampered by the psychological inertia of their usual properties and states. What property should the cargo have? Stoke the “product”. It is logical to use a stone.

This kind of psychological inertia is similar with the first two, but you should still distinguish them.

Overcoming techniques:

1. Look at the properties of the object, determine which properties it really needs, which interfere with (need to be removed), which do not matter, and which need to be added to obtain the desired effect.



2. Any value of the data parameters in the task must be verified and, if necessary, specified.



Try to apply these techniques to solve the inventive problem below and of course to solve problems in your own projects.

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Inventive problem number 1

The idea is that over the course of several articles we will be solving on 1 inventive problem that will develop into a single innovative project of a paid parking system.



This is an actual and real task, because The demand for such systems is growing, and their cost, reliability and manufacturability do not meet the needs of the market.



And so the first thing we will do to develop a new paid parking system is to invent a new barrier.



Let's try to invent a new barrier construction that is cheaper to manufacture (which influences the price?), More universal (dimensions of passage, climate, etc.), more reliable (the boom of a conventional barrier can be easily broken). To do this, first get rid of the psychological inertia and look at the barrier on the other side.



Write your suggestions in the comments to the article, by evaluating the comments we will be able to understand whose idea is better. I’ll hide my option under the spoiler so as not to create even more psychological inertia for you. Open the spoiler, only (!) After you come up and write your own solution in the comments.

My construction of the barrier. Progress decision (an example of the use of techniques from the article)

To begin with, let's get rid of the psychological inertia of familiar terms. those. Now we are inventing a GISMO for restricting entry / exit.



We will get rid of the psychological inertia of the habitual principle of action and habitual properties. What is the function of the barrier? After all, do not fence, and not allow to call in / out. Therefore, we must come up with a thing that does not allow the car to call in / out.



Now let's see how our “gizmo” is different from the barrier.



a) it is not obliged to block the passage, it can act with the help of other physical effects.

b) it is not required to stand at the side of the passage, it can be located anywhere (above, below, etc.).

c) it is not obliged to act on the driver (in fact, an ordinary barrier acts on the driver, and not on the car).



What comes to mind? How can I stop the car?

(My options are under the spoiler, and yours are in the comments).





Simple enough, cheap to manufacture, reliable construction, in my opinion turned out.



And what happened to you?



PS: If you liked the idea of ​​working off the skills of innovative design on the example of a paid parking project, do not miss the following articles (better subscribe), there we will develop identification systems, payment systems, etc.