The Solution – Real World Model

Full system sketch

Our idea used the concept of a warehouse network system. It would have a system of trucks that are controlled by a computational system that computes the most efficient way of shipping packages. The trucks would be powered by battery, where it could hot-swap batteries at warehouses. It would also contain multiple containers so that packages going to the same destination can be grouped together. This system would provide a solution to speedy and consistent shipments, as well as keeping the cost low as the current shipment infrastructure is reused. Every consumer need would be satisfactorily met, with a small hit to traffic caused by shipments and the cost of shipments. 

This solution would relieve users of pains with current shipping methods such as trucks being big and inefficient for trips, needing diesel fuel, and needing human drivers. The gains that could be had with our system include more reliable shipments, faster shipments, and less traffic congestion caused by shipments.

Sample vehicle route

We scaled our system requirements against the average distance between sample cities that would contain warehouses, which was determined to be around 100 miles.

Our full-scale system has to meet 8 key features, which include

  • Shipment consistency
  • Speed of shipments
  • Precise shipment dates
  • Cost of shipments,
  • Traffic on roads caused
  • Smart shipping
  • Pollution caused by shipments
  • Being practical to implement

To reflect these features, our system has specific requirements that include

  • Maintaining a constant speed between each warehouse
  • Completing the trip in under 1 hour
  • Being able to load and unload the vehicle in 10 minutes
  • Having a big payload size
  • Being battery powered
  • Being fully autonomous.