3 Red Thread of Victory
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ATTENTION!
It is with great warmth and gratitude that I recall the first general manager of
P.O. Box 19, Ilya Mikhailovich Glazkov61, the eminent leader of our collective.
The first thing he did when appointed to that post in 1962 was to visit several
international exhibitions. He brought back a heap of advertising booklets, gathered
his young wards and said: we must do this as well or even better! And 3 years
later, in Leipzig, the first Contact machines received outstanding awards.
I will never forget my closest colleagues and teachers who did it: Valery Semyonovich Galkov, Guennady Pavlovich Kuzmichyov, Vitaly Trofimovich Kuleshov, Aleksandr Danilovich Kiselyov. And they all were 25-28 years old!
I also remember Evgeny Evgenyevich Onegin, the 33-year-old head of our department, who went on to become the general director of PLANAR corporation,
heir to the miniscule P.O. Box 19.
And now please pay attention: the basic operating principles – and even
constructions – of "assembling" machines have not changed over the last
40 years (I am writing this in December 2009)! Naturally, new welding
methods have been invented: microplasma welding, laser welding, electron-beam welding, diffusion welding, "cold" welding eliminating the
need to heat up the entire microchip…
Each year such machines put together hundreds of millions of microchips throughout the world!
So you tell me – are these inventions "small" or "big"? Think about how the "big"
started with the "small", how it went through hundreds of inventions and thousands of minor innovations, survived for almost half a century, and keeps on
working!
3.4 The Unbelievable in the Routine
There is something more powerful than all the armies
in the world: it is an idea whose time has come. 62
Victor Hugo
What can be more familiar and even boring than a rail, or a steel wheel of a railway car rolling along that rail? Well, maybe a motorcar wheel rolling along a
concrete highway or a battered dusty country road.
And now let us consider the five (according to the author) wheel revolutions in
the history of the human civilization:
1st Revolution (6,000 years ago, Sumerian state in Mesopotamia): invention of
the wheel as such – first made of wood;
2nd Revolution (5,000 years ago, Egypt; 4,000 years ago, Europe): invention of
the pair "wheel – manmade road" (road made of wood, stone, etc.);
61
62
Ilya Mikhailovich Glazkov (1922-1996) – prominent public figure of the Republic of Belarus,
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1974-1982)
Victor-Marie Hugo (1802-1885) – famous French writer, poet and playwright
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Principles of TRIZ
3rd Revolution (500 years ago, ore mines in England, Ireland, Russia): invention of the pair "cast-iron wheel – cast-iron rail";
4th Revolution (160 years ago, Robert Thomson63): invention of the pair
"pneumatic wheel – road" (dirt road, stone road, concrete road, etc.);
5th Revolution (30 years ago – late 1970-es, Anatoly Unitsky64): invention of
the pair "steel wheel – steel string rail".
To be more exact, Anatoly Unitsky
INVENTED A COMPLETELY NEW… TYPE OF ROAD!!!
Manmade road of a new type using cast-iron rails did not have a prototype in
Nature! Anatoly Unitsky's string rail has prototypes both in technology and in Nature – for example, cables or spider web threads – but it is not identical to them, as
its structure and properties are wonderful and truly revolutionary!
Some people may say: "Well, it's not like you've invented a bicycle or a wheel!
What's so special, so unbelievable about it?"
Example 3.7. Automotive Civilization (Solution for Example P4)
Let us consider the key contradictions inherent in the pair "wheel – road" (fig.
3.29).
plus
"soft" and comfortable
Automobile
wheel
minus
low output/input ratio because there is a large wheel-road
contact area due to elasticity of the wheel which prevents
it from being, or remaining, an "ideal circle"
a) standard contradiction
must be
The automobile
wheel
must be
under high
pressure
to increase speed by minimizing the
wheel-road contact area
under low
pressure
to increase traction on "smooth"
road by maximizing the wheel-road
contact area
b) radical contradiction
fig. 3.29. Major contradictions inherent in the pneumatic automobile wheel
Because of the road profile and the ensuing low efficiency of the pair "wheel –
road" it is impossible to universally support movement even at speeds ranging
from 150 to 200 km/h. If you are taking an autobahn from Berlin to Munich, you
will move at an average speed of 120 km/h even if traffic conditions are favorable
(i.e. there are no traffic jams, construction works, detours, etc.)! That is progress
for you! And it is a tall task to get from Berlin to Munich in 7 hours – it all depends on traffic jams, road repairs and construction works!
63
64
Robert William Thomson (1822-1873) – Scottish inventor, author of the idea for the pneumatic
tire which he patented in 1846-1847
Anatoly Eduardovich Unitsky (b. 1949) – inventor of surface and circumplanetary string transportation systems; www.yunitskiy.com
3 Red Thread of Victory
85
In addition to that, the motor vehicle is the worst environmental pollutant and
the worst "legitimate" murderer killing 1,500,000 people and maiming about
5,000,000 people throughout the world every year!
Conclusions: 1. Motor vehicles must not be used for mass-scale transportation
of people and cargoes for distances exceeding several hundred
kilometers!
2. In the future, the rules governing city traffic, as well as conditions and scale of parking in cities, must be radically changed!
And now let us consider the radical problem affecting the railroad pair "steel
wheel – steel rail" (fig. 3.30).
must be
straight
to increase speed and "smoothness" of
movement
The railroad rail
not straight
must be
as in physical terms it is a static beam
which is elastic, and therefore subject to
small-radius sagging (under massive
concentrated pressure)
fig. 3.30. Radical contradiction inherent in the "steel rail"
The existence of a sag, however small, means that the railroad wheel is rolling
along a road which is not "ideally" straight, that it is constantly trying to get out of
a depression – the sagging rail! And that goes for several dozens or hundreds of
wheels in each train! Clearly, the need to overcome ongoing resistance results in
huge overconsumption of energy! Monstrous waste of energy! In other words, the
pair "steel wheel – steel rail" also has a very low output/input ratio!
Accordingly, the maximum speed that can be achieved by trains without creating potentially lethal complications is limited by 200-300 km/h. And the situation
is further exacerbated by immense railway construction costs!
And now I will tell you about one surprisingly simple invention which is unbelievably efficient! This is the new planetary transport of the future!
The essence of this invention authored by Anatoly Unitsky is the completely
new rail construction (fig. 3.31).
REVOLUTION
fig. 3.31. String rail construction
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Principles of TRIZ
Pursuant to the TRIZ model that we know as "Matryoshka" (named after the
famous Russian nested doll), the new rail is made of dozens and hundreds of
wires. Each such wire is tight as a string, and all of them together make one powerful string which is completely straight!
In fig. 3.32 you can see the relative "sag" radii of motorway surface (Ram = 1,
used as the base unit), high-speed railroad rail (Rrr = 3), and Unitsky string rail
(Rsr = 10).
Rsr = 10 !
Ram = 1
Rrr = 3
fig. 3.32. Rigidity and straightness of Unitsky road is 10 times better than those of
motorway road surface, and 3 times better than those of a high-speed railway rail
The second dominant TRIZ model which is de facto realized here is "Transition
into another dimension" – in all senses of the word! Technically, this means that
the entire transportation structure is raised above ground (fig. 3.33) to a certain
height in order to minimize up and down sloping, and to assure that the road is
completely straight for dozens and hundreds of kilometers and that flight in a unibus while contemplating the beauty of Nature gives pleasure to each and every
passenger!
a) STU station
b) high-speed transportation
vehicle looks organic in any
fig. 3.33. Examples from engineering projects designed by Anatoly Unitsky
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ATTENTION!
Indeed, land that can be used by surface transport, particularly in cities, is becoming more and more scarce.
And this means that further development – historically evolutional! – is possible only if we move up, make use of the "height" coordinate by raising the transportation infrastructure above the land surface. And while we are at it, we might
just as well "correct" its "defects", the so-called "topographic inequalities" causing
the roughness of terrain.
Still, the secret of this invention lies in the physical-technical properties of the
string! These properties are completely different from the properties of a beam
resting on its ends. All other things being equal, the beam sags much more!
As a result, the maximum speed that can be achieved by Unitsky transportation
modules (unibuses) without complications is 200–500 km/h.
The string is an "intelligent" system which is capable of selfrestoration and is exclusively – to the maximum extent possible! –
straight and even along the way.
That is why Unitsky's invention is the last revolution in the development of the pair "wheel – rail": it cannot be surpassed or improved,
except in terms of efficiency of materials used for its construction! But
NOT in terms of its operating principle!
DIRECT ADVANTAGES!
Also, like any other powerful invention, String Transport Unitsky (STU) creates extraordinary super-effects:
energy (fuel) consumption is 20 times less compared to motor
vehicles!
energy consumption is 4 times less compared to railway trans-
port!
STU construction costs are 20-30 times less compared to those
of a motor highway of comparable length!
STU construction costs are 10-15 times less compared to those
of a railroad of comparable length!
Passenger and cargo transportation costs are 10+ times less!
And last but not least, STU has certain systemic properties that are extremely
promising.
There is a well-known saying: states grew around roads.
STU can link locations within any country by high-speed, comfortable, safe and
reliable means of transportation. STU can link countries and continents, for example, Europe and Japan, China and South-East Asia, Africa, the Americas, even
Europe and America, etc. Accordingly, STU can become a planetary transportation system (see example in fig. 3.34).
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Principles of TRIZ
TASHKENT
fig. 3.34. Eurasian STU-based transportation internet
There is no end to what I can tell you about STU. But its construction has not
started yet. STU is still waiting for investors and statesmen who can think globally
and historically, and who are capable of exerting strong political will.
And to crown it all – a little "back-to-the-future" turn: let us talk about new old
values associated with living on this planet.
Throughout the last century, countries rapidly (like the notorious pebble
leather65) coalesced around cities, gigantic metropolises inhabited by millions of
people! For many, "nature-less" existence turned into chasing material well-being,
while morality and dignity began to shrink like the magic talisman made of pebble
leather and presented by an old storekeeper to the protagonist of the famous novel
by Honoré de Balzac.
Vast expanses of many countries – especially Russia – remain unpopulated!
Urbanization – what a terrible word! Man has retreated from Nature. This is one
of the reasons why man has lost the emotional skills to perceive and appreciate
Nature.
STU makes the impossible possible: it enables a mass-scale reverse migration
from the cities to the Nature! Migration to wonderful living and working conditions created by a new strategy and a new conceptual approach to organizing new
settlements in the most picturesque locations in any country, in any spot on the
planet! Because STU makes distances irrelevant.
People will no longer be wasting their lives in metropolises, if given the chance
to live far (by modern standards) from large cities, but still be able to get there in a
matter of minutes, not hours, without getting stuck in traffic jams, without suffering nervous breakdowns, without destroying Nature.
65
"Pebble Leather" (Fr. La Peau de Chagrin), a novel (1830-1831) by Honoré de Balzac (17991850) – famous French writer
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89
The new systemic conceptual framework66 envisaging establishment of "line"
settlements along streamlined STU networks is illustrated by fig. 3.35. Ability to
use clean transportation infrastructure and noiselessly moving unibus trains will
make it possible to build compact cities, existing in harmony with their natural environment, along STU lines and within walking distance from them.
These will be the growth points of a rationally organized society. It will also be
very profitable, because eventually the possibility to live in normal natural and social conditions will be valued higher than possession of any thing, however precious and prestigious. Gradually, there will emerge a new civilization living in
unity, rather than in confrontation, with Nature.
And now about the hard lot of pioneers and discoverers.
fig. 3.35. Starting point of systemic growth
of a new civilization
"A new worthy purpose67 is
usually so much ahead of its
time that people frequently
perceive it as heresy. Life in
creation does not start with
laurel wreaths. You have to
learn to fight, to make war.
Creative personalities do not
turn away from the worthy
creation roads they have chosen. They cannot do it because
of their sense of duty. Zander68
called it duty before mankind."
For the last 30 years, Anatoly Unitsky has been doing his duty before mankind,
and not only does he dream of seeing his transportation system in action, but he
also does everything he can to make it happen. And still … people are not willing
or able to understand – heretic!
Perception of pioneers by politicians, officials and even investors has not
changed over the entire history of civilization.
"It is known that it is easier to look for treasure under a lamppost where it is
light, rather than in the dark and impassable forest. A little more than 100 years
ago, when the first cars had already begun to move along the streets, the Greater
London Municipal Council gave credence to conclusions drawn by a special investigation committee in a report on the prospects of development of the city's
transportation system: "In 100 years (i.e. today – A.U. and M.O.) London will
have 2 million residents and 4 million horses; there will be more stables than residential houses; all adjacent lands will be used to grow grass and oats, but there
66
67
68
See STU in Questions and Answers at www.yunitskiy.com
Based on: G. S. Altshuller, I. M. Vertkin (1994) How to Become a Genius. – Minsk, Belarus
Friedrich Zander (Fridrikh Arturovich Tsander) (1887-1933) – Russian scientist and inventor, one
of the rocketry pioneers who published his first work on future space flights in 1908 (when he was
only 21 years old!). His personal motto was: "Onward, to Mars!"
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Principles of TRIZ
will still be not enough land and fodder for horses; and in some places horse manure will be lying in heaps half a meter thick".
Current projections for the next 50-100 years are very much alike if we replace
certain terms in the above analysis as follows: horse with motor car, stable with
garage, oat with gasoline, land with asphalt, and manure with exhaust gases.
Both then and now specialists and experts make the same mistake – 110 years ago
nobody was ready to take seriously the first simple and non-presentable automobile which changed the world in the 20th century; now nobody is ready to take notice of the first simple and non-presentable STU concept built in the settlement of
Ozyory, Moscow Region, in 2001, a device which will change the world even
more drastically in the 21st century, making it a safer, more ecological and more
comfortable place to live.69 "
The time to build String Transport Unitsky has come!
3.5 The Impossible Is Possible
This invention – the one made by Anatoly Unitsky! – is very big in all senses! It is
based on an extraordinarily simple idea, it is unbelievably difficult to implement,
and it is exclusively efficient and fantastically beautiful!
And it is also something that our human civilization needs very much. And this
means that mankind is capable of realizing it! This has always been the case when
mankind was faced with a new purpose.
Example 3.8. Space Civilization (Solution for Example P5)
- So you insist that man can raise himself
by the hair?
- Absolutely! Every thinking human being
simply must do it from time to time.
Baron von Münchhausen
This statement by the famous Baron von Münchhausen70, as brought to us by the actor Oleg
Yankovsky, has become an unforgettable aphorism for many who saw this movie71 and believed
in the truthfulness of the story that it related (fig.
3.36).
fig. 3.36. That Very Same Münchhausen (copy of DVD cover)
69
70
71
See STU in Questions and Answers at www.yunitskiy.com
Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen (1720-1797) – German Baron, descendant
of a famous family of noblemen from Lower Saxony, cornet in the Russian army, historical and
literary character. His name later came to be used to refer to people prone to telling tall stories.
That Very Same Münchhausen (1979), a brilliant movie directed by Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov
(b. 1933) – Russian theater and cinema director; the script was written by Grigory Israilevich
Gorin (1940-2000) – Russian playwright and satirical writer; the title role was played by Oleg
Ivanovich Yankovsky (1944-2009) – Russian theatre and cinema actor