Cargo Connect

Project - Our solution is the Cargo Basket, a steel bin that holds three cargo containers at a time allowing a ship to be unloaded with one third as many workers or one third of the time with the ideal amount of workers. We identified a lack of manpower at ports which leads to long waits before a ship can unload its cargo causing log jams at major ports resulting in delays.

Originally we designed our model to have 4 solid walls but due to concerns from both experts and judges about the Cargo Basket's weight we decided to use a lattice design for the sides to remove some weight from the basket. Our first idea didn't include a basket at all. For that idea, we were thinking of a foldable shipping container. Then throughout our research, we found a company that does just that. 4FOLD is a shipping container manufacturer who makes foldable containers to help improve the ecosystem. So we went back to the drawing board and thought up more ideas. Our ideas went through many different stages. At first, we thought of a contraption that came out of each shipping container, bringing the cargo with it, that resembled a net. Then we decided to make it outside the containers and have solid walls so that it would be even quicker. It eventually became the Cargo Basket.

Once we were confident with our solution we met with Dr. Sox, a Professor of Operations and Business Analytics at University of Cincinnati, who gave us feedback about our solution. He was concerned about the weight of our cargo basket along with the cargo inside. So, we made an alternate solution that weighed less, because it had wired-wall that resembled a deep-fry basket, and that is our solution now. We met with Brian May, the logistics manager at Eby-Brown, to talk about our solution. We also met with Dr.Sox, a University of Cincinnati Professor of Operations and Business Analytics and talked to him about our problem and solution. 

Explanation of our Project-

With our cargo basket you would be able to unload a cargo ship almost three times faster by unloading three cargo containers at a time with a gantry crane. With 3 packed containers inside the cargo basket, it would weigh 170 metric tons at most, easily fitting inside the weight requirements of a full gantry crane. Originally our design for the basket had 4 solid walls but after concerns from both experts and judges about the Cargo Basket's weight we decided to open the sides, and make it look similar to a deep fry basket with a solid bottom. It has two doors that open on either side and an external hydraulic scissor mechanism pushes all 3 cargo containers out at the same time. Using Cargo Baskets, a ship could be unloaded in the same amount of time with one third as many people or take one third of the time with the same amount of workers. At $8000 per cargo basket, each port would save over $5 million per ship that docks after a 2 year investment period. 

Robot-

Each season, we look at the field and talk about what kinds of attachments could do each mission and we set goals for things we want to learn about. We're trying to practice coopertition by completing our airdrop mission as soon as possible for the other team, and waiting to use their food package until our last run so the other team has time to drop it if they can. We use gyro and light sensors to increase our consistency. This allows our robot to know where it is before and after every mission, so even if one mission doesn't work perfectly the robot realigns for the next mission. We try to plan so that even if one mission isn't complete at the first competition, it isn't too hard to add it in later