Method for inferring latent functions
Year: 2013
Editor: Udo Lindemann, Srinivasan V, Yong Se Kim, Sang Won Lee, John Clarkson, Gaetano Cascini
Author: Mori, Hiroki; Taura, Toshiharu; Tsumaya, Akira
Series: ICED
Institution: Kobe University, Japan
Page(s): 331-340
ISBN: 978-1-904670-49-0
ISSN: 2220-4334
Abstract
Latent functions are functions that are implicitly included in products. A consideration of latent functions at the conceptual design stage has become increasingly important from the perspective of product safety and sustainable manufacturing. This paper discusses and proposes a method to infer the latent functions at the conceptual design stage. First, as a framework to capture the latent functions, the function dividing process is systematized from a linguistic viewpoint into decomposition-based dividing and causal-connection-based dividing. Next, three types of latent function inferring processes are formulated, and the concepts of basic and secondary functions and word match methods are introduced to make the inferring more flexible and appropriate. Finally, a computer system to infer the latent function is developed and a case study is conducted using the system. The case study shows the feasibility of using the proposed method to help designers or consumers to infer latent functions in advance.
Keywords: Design engineering, conceptual design, design methods, latent function, function inferring