3.2. METHODS OF HEURISTIC ANALOGY

Methods of heuristic analogy are based on the natural desire of man to imitate. Using these methods, inventive problems are solved by considering the analogous situations in nature, technology, social and other phenomena, and using the found analogies to eliminate the contradictions that created the problem situation.

The simplest analogy sees everyone. Detecting hidden analogies is a typical quality inventor. An inventor is primarily someone who sees analogies of qualities and properties, a good inventor is one who sees analogies of functions and behavior, the best inventor sees analogies of relations and proportions and a great inventor is one who is able to see analogies of inventive problems and means of solving them.

The oldest group of methods of analogy is the group of methods of analogy with nature. Nature was the teacher of the inventor. Man first found the tools of labor directly in nature. Then he began to learn the properties of objects of nature and use them to meet their needs. For example, some African tribes use manure as a binder, and manure ashes - as whitewash.

Starting to consider heuristic methods of invention, it should be noted that the methods of analogy, like other heuristic methods of finding solutions to problems, do not guarantee the achievement of solutions in each individual case and can lead to erroneous results. For example, in the 18th century, they imagined that the conditions for the floating of balloons in the air had a complete analogy with the conditions for the navigation of sea-going ships, therefore many projects of controlled balloons with sails, oars and rudders were proposed. Managed balloons d'Artois, Masset and Christian Crumba each had two oars. The Guton de Morvo balloon had a rectangular steering wheel, the Meunier balloon had a triangular steering wheel, the Miolana and Zhanina aerostat had a steering wheel in the form of a fish tail. Martin's balloon was equipped with a vertical sail over the basket, and the Carra balloon had as many as three sails. These decisions by analogy were not successful.

Each of the heuristic methods has its strengths and weaknesses, limits of applicability, types, variations, techniques. We confine ourselves to listing the most common heuristic methods with examples of their use in inventive practice.

The method of adaptation of natural structures and substances for technical purposes involves a series of simple operations with objects of nature.

The oldest pebble implements consisted of stones, rounded by the movement of sea or river water and hastily padded with few blows in the working part. The first ax in the northern regions of the globe was invented by adapting the lower jaw of a cave bear

The method of paleobionics is to use prototypes of extinct animals and plants for searching for solutions to the inventive problem.

Inventors Y. Bushtedt, L. Lagiyan, N. Litvinov invented a two-tiered drill string, by analogy with the design of the teeth of extinct paleoischer (ed. Svid. SSSR№ 161008).

The method of biomechanics recommends creating constructive inventions by analogy with the mechanical principle of action of objects of nature. At the end of the last century, Russian scientist P L Chebyshev developed a "stopping machine" using the principles of a grasshopper's foot movement.

The biochemistry method recommends using processes by analogy with biochemical reactions, enzymes, catalysts, etc. This method was used to create methods for artificially producing chlorophyll, quinine, urea, dyes, etc.

The bioarchitecture method is to use an analogy with the forms, architectonics and proportions of living nature to solve inventive problems. Polish architect A Karbovsky used in housing construction the experience of bees in building wax cells, which are an ideal form for monolithic structures - honeycomb walls, fences, radiators, etc.

The method of bio-cybernetics is used to solve a variety of inventive problems up to the reconstruction of artificial biological structures, processes and functions, to build cybernetic devices capable of performing logical operations. A number of cybernetic devices have been created to solve intellectual problems by analogy with natural objects, such as Perceptron, F. Rosenblatt, "Aldos Personality" by J. Lowlin, "Homunkulus" by J. and S. Hellahonnov, and others.

The method of analogy with objects, phenomena and substances of inanimate nature also makes it possible in some cases to solve inventive problems. Thus, Mirsky, an employee of the Grozny Oil Research Institute, created molecular sieves for molecular separation of oil based on the analogy with natural stones, the Neoliths.

The method of analogy with physical phenomena allowed G. Galileo to invent a pendulum to measure the pulse beat in analogy with a swinging chandelier in the Cathedral of Pisa.

The method of analogy with social phenomena was used by T Grotgus to create a method and theory of water electrolysis. The mechanism of electrical conductivity, according to Grotgus, can be represented as a chain of successive decompositions and reunions of water molecules and the selection of the extreme links of the chain as free elements at the current pole. "The chain of Grotgus", as the author himself wrote, originated by analogy with the fashionable dance of the time "grand chatne".

The precedent method is used to create new technical objects by analogy with inventions developed in the past. English inventor Everitt created a machine for the sale of matches, by analogy with the machine for the sale of "sacred water", invented by Heron of Alexandria (I century BC).

The reintegration method (the Ariadne thread method) is to create a new complex technical object or process, by analogy with one particularly significant detail, operation or simple technical object. The famous inventor F. Zander in 1930 created his own rocket engine, the OP-1, by analogy with a blowtorch.

The method of applying standard copying devices (stencils, templates, masks, models, and so on) was used by T. A. Edison when he created a mimeograph in 1875 using a paraffin stencil under which blank paper was laid. To reproduce printed text on a stencil, they were rolled with a roller. moistened with special ink.

The method of replacing the principle of operation of a technical object with an equivalent used by prof. A. Lyass and employees from the Research and Development Institute of Technology and Mechanical Engineering, who invented a new method of compaction of the molding sand by replacing the traditional principle with another, equivalent: they proposed to condense the molding sand with a cast. The authors of the invention in 1967 awarded the Lenin Prize; the license for it was sold to France with the right to use it in Spain, Portugal and Switzerland.

The method of replacing structures with their equivalents was used by the Finnish inventor E. Henrikson to create a new lock design without springs, using "turning washers of the cash register.

The method of replacing materials with their equivalents allowed T. A. Edison in 1900 to invent iron-nickel alkaline batteries instead of the lead batteries used then.

The prosthetic method consists in selecting and replacing elements of a technical object or a living organism with a functionally similar technical device, in the case when regeneration or replacement with identical spare parts is impossible. Another Russian inventor, I. L. Kulibin, in 1791 created very advanced prosthetic legs. The creative team under the leadership of D. M. Ioffe invented a prosthetic shoulder with bioelectric control (ed. Mon. USSR № 240176).

The method of increasing the size is based on the existing tendency to increase the size of the prototype of some technical objects. The method is simple and has been used since ancient times, as evidenced by the giantoliths, bifaces and megalithic structures of the Stone Age. So, by increasing the size of the knife was invented saber. Accepting this method: increasing the technical object to the maximum possible size - hyperbolization - gave a lot of new technical devices - giant excavators, turbines, dump trucks, rolling mills, ships, airplanes, airships.

The reduction method was already known at the dawn of invention, as evidenced by microliths in the form of punctures, spikes, inserts weighing a few grams and even milligrams. A method for measuring the distance on the maps and drawings was invented by a method for reducing the size of an automobile trip meter.

The simulation method allows solving various inventive problems. For this purpose, you can use physical (miniature, particular), mathematical and cybernetic modeling. Using the method of cybernetic modeling of the human visual apparatus, the staff of the Center for Advanced Research of the company General Electric created a bioelectric position sensor - a visilog, signaling its position in space. Vizilog can be used in space navigation.

The imitation method consists in creating such technical objects that are similar in shape, color, and appearance to an object, but for a number of other properties (for example, in chemical composition, structure) do not correspond to it. The Chukchi for bait animals invented a special bone tool - wabic, imitating scratching on the ice of the seal. The design of the children's toy automat B. D. Robustov, S. S. Ferapontov, and M. K. Puchkov was created by imitating a combat machine (auth. Testimonial USSR No. 242726).

The pseudomorphization method involves the execution of one technical object in the form of another, which has a completely different purpose, in order to create a false representation. According to the pseudomorphization method, a cane-shaped firearm, a pistol lighter, a nail-shaped pen, a book-shaped piggy bank, a wallet-type radio apparatus, etc. were created.

The method of anthropomorphization is to create human-like in appearance technical structures. The method of anthropomorphization created androids - the iron "gatekeeper man" Albert the Great, the "scribe" F. Knaus, the "flutist" J. Vaucanson, the "hairdresser" G. Grasfelder, as well as dolls, cups in the shape of a human head, caryatids - crowning parts of the columns supporting the entablature or arch, etc.

The method of analogy with the form of animals and plants is expedient not only from a technical, but also from an artistic point of view, since proportionality, harmony, color characteristics of natural analogues can be successfully applied to create perfect and beautiful technical products. A special brass knuckles, which in form is an almost exact cast of tiger's claws, were invented by the Indians. In the history of invention, Archit Terensky’s “flying pigeon” and the squirrel sewing machine S. B. Ellitorp are also known.