Separation principles eliminating physical contradictions

Sometimes we simply want to invent through the elimination of a specific physical contradiction. It can be done using 11 Separation Principles (Altshuller et al. 1999), which are defined thus  

Separation Principles is a collection of 11 heuristics that is necessary and sufficient to eliminate all possible Physical Contradictions in inventive conceptual designing. 

The complete list of these principles with all methodological guidance is available in Altshuller et al. (1999). According to Clarke (1997), the most useful separation principles are 

After a long deliberation, the inventor has decided to use the time separation principle and has chosen to deliver sandwiches exactly when they are needed by means of helicopter drones. As a temporary measure, she will first use the communication drones that are already in use to carry confidential messages among the support team members. Later, special stealth helicopter drones will be ordered (and invented first), which be invisible to other teams and which will fly silently. 

The separation in space principle needs to be used when dealing with requirements and constraints related to the spatial aspects of design. For example, an inventor is working on a concept for a snowmobile to be used behind the Arctic Circle to transport frozen seafood. The traditional thinking about designing commercial vehicles for the Arctic Circle is simple Insulate the entire vehicle as much as possible. In our case, this heuristic is simply inadequate and we need to use the separation in space principle. 

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It s easier to pinpoint and eliminate any physical or technical contradictions. See Structured Abstraction (Technique 23) and Separation Principles (Technique 24) for more. 

Review each cell in the matrix and discuss the merits of joining the two characteristics. Eliminate cells that contain existing ideas or don t make sense (such as spa services and in-seat chargers). However, don t immediately discard ideas because they contain technical or physical contradictions you may be able to get past the contradictions using Structured Abstraction (Technique 23) or Separation Principles (Technique 24). 

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