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There is a method to successful inventions

Sam Asano
Sam Asano

If you wish to watch WMUR TV Channel 9’s New Hampshire Chronicle on my new invention, FallSafeTM, go to Google and search “WMUR Sam Asano.” You can watch the showing of the game-changing invention. I am not saying this for my self-aggrandization. Since the broadcast, we have received more than 100 emails from readers, many of whom wanted to know when the product becomes available.

Now back to the invention process.

As I stated last week, we in the United States do not teach the fundamental philosophy of inventions in various schools. I can say for sure we do not teach it, period, except at a very few institutions. I often wonder about it. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, we harbored a large number of super inventors. I have no words to describe them other than super inventors. Basically, this group single-handedly built the American manufacturing industry, which ended up dominating the world. Trust worldwide in American products was so strong I remember many Japanese executives in Tokyo would only use Parker Fountain Pens and wear Waltham Watches to show off.

Inventions lead the nation’s industrial power. So, not teaching our young generations the skills of invention is harmful in the long term.

How do you go about inventing? The most important principle is not to invent solutions looking for problems. Namely, do not waste time inventing things that have no applicable use. The worst offenders, unfortunately, are from the ranks of engineers like myself. The reason this happens, and billions of dollars get wasted for products with no use, is because engineers have skills and resources to do them. My second principle in invention is “don’t start just because you can.”

Problem 1: One million people fall down in a month and 45 percent cannot initiate a call for help.

Problem 2: If the person doesn’t get help, his or her injury may become much more serious.

Problem 3: About 10 percent of the Golden Lives (those age 65 and older) has dementia or Alzheimer’s. They may wonder off from home and get lost. Conventional home-bound systems cannot track the patient.

Problem 4: There are two crucial performance factors in designing the solution. The solution cannot generate “false positive” and “false negative” signals. A false positive when the device generates the fall signal when a fall didn’t happen. This is a problem, but not as serious as a false negative, which is when the device doesn’t generate a fall signal when a fall actually happens. This is very serious as the wearer is unable to contact anyone unless he or she is awake and capable of initiating the help call.

Problem 5: The invention that solves the aforementioned problems must be compact, wearable, reliable, relatively inexpensive, have long rechargeable battery and be very user-friendly for the Golden Lives.

That is the basic definition of the problem inventors must face. Do you think this is a tall order? Who said it’s easy? But, there is a method in the madness.

The first thing you need to do is to write down details of the problem in your notebook. You don’t have a notebook? Go buy a cheap bound notebook for school work. On the first page, write down the date and time and title of the invention you are going to work on.

Then clearly write down the problems 1-5. No abbreviations or short cuts. When done, close the notebook and recite the problem in your mind. Now you need to stop. Leave your desk, walk the forest path or do something unrelated to the problem. This quiet period is important. Many inventors get so excited with an idea they lose sight of the imperfection of their thoughts. This cooling period is necessary to look at the problem with a detached and critical view. Many inventors with engineering backgrounds do not like their idea criticized even by themselves. They bulldoze through their concept with absolute conviction and spend a lot of energy and funds only to discover there is a fundamental flaw in the concept. The time to catch the flaw is now, and never later.

Back in 1970s, my professor and I were discussing the issue of designing a bogie (truck) for high-speed railroad trains. The purpose was to design the bogie of least vibration in the high-speed run. We were in a restaurant and perhaps ingested some alcohol. We got so excited and immersed in the discussion and thought we had arrived at a revolutionary suspension mechanism. We jotted down the mechanism and happily left the place. It took us less than 10 minutes to come to the horrible conclusion that the system would never work. In fact, it was an accident-causing system. We had no thought of applying for a patent and it was a fun evening, yet it almost took us to talk about applying for a patent. We would have been a laughing stock in the industry.

Shintaro “Sam” Asano was named by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011 as one of the 10 most influential inventors of the 20th century who improved our lives. He is a businessman and inventor in the field of electronics and mechanical systems who is credited as the inventor of the portable fax machine. Write to him at sasano@gmail.com.