MEASURING HISTORY: DOES HISTORICAL CAR PERFORMANCE FOLLOW THE TRIZ PERFORMANCE S CURVE?
Year: 2011
Editor: Culley, S.J.; Hicks, B.J.; McAloone, T.C.; Howard, T.J. & Reich, Y.
Author: Dowlen, Chris
Series: ICED
Section: Design Theory and Research Methodology
Page(s): 183-193
Abstract
After an outline of the four curves proposed for measuring historical product behavior by the TRIZ system and a brief summary of previous work to determine the development of car history, the paper investigates the assessment and measurement of performance throughout the history of the car. This is done by taking a historical investigation of performance criteria such as engine power, maximum speed and acceleration. A factor analysis is also carried out on performance parameters and the first two factors are presented as a two-dimensional performance map that could be used as a design tool. The paper then questions whether this is what is really meant by car performance and discusses the difficulties of measuring this. Car developments in the late 1930s are taken as an example to illustrate some of the nuances that need to be captured. The work has indicated that the TRIZ process is a somewhat simplistic curve that doesn’t take into account the historical data in this case.
Keywords: TRIZ; PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT; PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT; CAR HISTORY