The development of a modified TRIZ Technical System ontology

This paper considers the development of a TRIZ Technical System ontology with the aim of facilitating the indexing of knowledge contained within available resources in a way that will make it accessible and useful to a user undertaking a design engineering task. The function of the developed ontology is evaluated using a case study, in which a patent is classified using the defined scheme. The quantitative nature of the classification structure developed to support this procedure offers a mechanism that may be further developed and integrated into research aiming to support the computerisation of the knowledge elicitation and representation process. The ontology developed to enable the classification methodology will support the integration of design by analogy procedures and enable effective information retrieval via the TRIZ based approach.

► The development of a TRIZ Technical System ontology facilitating the indexing of knowledge extracted from patents.
► Accessible and useful to a user undertaking an design engineering task.
► A patent is classified as a case study using the defined scheme.
► The ontology described in this paper can contribute to an important area of current and future research.