NextGen Cart Design Challenge

Background

The NextGen Cart Design Challenge aims to reinvent the next generation Airport Material Transport Cart (AMTC). The AMTC is utilized to transport and track secured goods from a central receiving center to retail stores, storage areas and operation facilities within an airport. The carts also are utilized to facilitate returns of goods and sub-containers back to the central receiving center.

The Challenge seeks a functional prototype built according to our design specifications. We welcome entrepreneurs, researchers, scientists, students, and anyone eager to contribute, to jump into this challenge and engineer the perfect next generation design.

Join us today on our mission to constantly innovate, measure and improve to ensure operational excellence, safety, security, and sustainability faster than any other in the industry! To register for the challenge, click the “ACCEPT CHALLENGE” button above.  The Challenge Forum is your space to share thoughts and ideas with potential competitors or to create teams with similar visions. 

Problem

Airport carts today are designed with one mission in mind; they get material goods from point A to point B. Unfortunately, within that mission, several inefficiencies and antiquated approaches have been accepted industry-wide. Today’s material hand-trucks, carts, dollies, and cages are unsecured, unsightly, noisy, unwieldy, and an inefficient means of moving goods!

We aspire to make material deliveries highly visible to operations and security but invisible (or at least visibly pleasant if seen) to the travelling public. We believe that it is time for a complete redesign to a new standard, the NextGen AMTC!
 

Challenge Breakthrough

We envision airport carts of the future to leverage the technology we see today deployed in several other cutting edge industries. These smart carts should provide advanced material security, safe/efficient transport, remote sensing, and reporting capabilities to assist us in our purpose to Help Airports Run Great!

About the Sponsor

Bradford Airport Logistics was formed in 2000 and is exclusively focused on airport logistics within the global aviation industry. This includes turnkey services, technology, security, supply chain management, and consultancy associated with the “command and control” over all consumable goods entering the airport terminal complex (excluding material destined for aircraft). This is our core business. Our solution establishes a highly secure Centralized Receiving and Distribution Center. Bradford then provides turnkey services along with deploying our in-house developed “enterprise technology” – Airport Material Intelligence System (AMIS™).

To learn more about Bradford Airport Logistics, visit http://airportlogistics.org/.

Get Involved

• Click ACCEPT CHALLENGE above to sign up for the challenge
• Read the Challenge Guidelines to learn about the requirements and rules
• Share this challenge on social media using the icons above. Show your friends, your family, or anyone you know who has a passion for discovery.
• Start a conversation in our Forum to join the conversation, ask questions or connect with other innovators.

The Prize

Bradford Airport Logistics is committed to awarding up to $30,000 in overall prize money:

• Grand Winner: $20,000
• Second Place Finalist: $10,000

Prize Structure

• Phase I: Design Round
  • Competitors will thoroughly and thoughtfully address all Submission Form questions to the best of their ability.
  • Competitors have the option of uploading supporting documents, video links or sketches of their preliminary design.
  • Competitors should ensure that the submission provides a sufficient level of detail to demonstrate the design as "reduced to practice."
  • All components of the designs should be sufficiently tested to demonstrate that they are "fit for purpose" and meet the specification requirements listed in the Judging Criteria.
  • All components of the design should include detailed information relating to the make, model, sourcing, and cost of the components. 
• Phase II: Prototype Round
  • The 2 awarded Finalists will be required to build a functional prototype of their design (intended to be the model for final production models)
  • Competitors should assemble all of the components in such a manner that all interoperability can be tested in a live environment for final review.
  • Competitors should include performance data benchmarks that can be validated during the final phase of evaluation.

Following the Phase I Design Round, Bradford will select up to 2 Finalists to advance to the Phase II Prototype Round. Both Finalists will receive $5,000 in upfront cash to fund the development of their initial prototype. On the Phase II Prototype Round Submission Deadline, Bradford will coordinate with each Finalist to have their prototypes shipped to a central location for Finalist Judging at a company-wide event. Following the Judging Event, the Bradford Executive Management Judging Panel will select one Grand Winner. The winning prototype will earn up to $15,000 in additional cash awards, and the second place prototype will earn up to $5,000 in additional cash awards. 

Following the Phase II Prototype Round, Bradford will extend an optional Commercial Contract to the winner to source and manufacture the product, pending a mutual agreement between the two parties. 
 

How Do I Win?

To be eligible for an award, your proposal must, at minimum:

• Satisfy the Judging Criteria
• Thoughtfully address the Submission Form questions
• Become selected as a Finalist
• Submit a prototype of your final cart design

AMTC Design Specifications

Rules

Participation Eligibility:

The challenge is open to all adult individuals, private teams, public teams, and collegiate teams. Teams may originate from any country. Submissions must be made in English. All challenge-related communication will be in English.

No specific qualifications or expertise in the field of aviation, logistics or industrial design is required. Prize organizers encourage outside individuals and non-expert teams to compete and propose new solutions.

To be eligible to compete, you must comply with all the terms of the challenge as defined in the Challenge-Specific Agreement

Registration and Submissions:

Submissions must be made online (only), via upload to the HeroX.com website, on or before 4:59pm Central Time on March 23rd, 2018. All uploads must be in PDF format. No late submissions will be accepted.

Intellectual Property Rights:

By winning the prize award for this Challenge, the Innovator agrees and will transfer all intellectual property rights and titles of the Submission to the Sponsor. Bradford will re-license the IP at no cost to the winner for industries unrelated to aviation (airports and retail enterprises).

Selection of Winners:

Based on the winning criteria, prizes will be awarded per the Judging Criteria section above. In the case of a tie, the winner(s) will be selected based on the highest votes from the Judges.

In the case of no winner, Bradford Airport Logistics reserves the right to withhold the Prize amount. In place of the original prize amount, Bradford Airport Logistics must issue a Consolation Prize to the team or individual closest to the winning solution in the amount of at least 10% of the total original prize purse.

Judging Panel:

The determination of the winners will be made by an Executive Management Judging Team including Bradford Airport Logistics’ CEO, Co-CEO, CTO, and others.

Additional Information

• By participating in the challenge, each competitor agrees to submit only their original idea. Any indication of "copying" amongst competitors is grounds for disqualification.
• All applications will go through a process of due diligence; any application found to be misrepresentative, plagiarized, or sharing an idea that is not their own will be automatically disqualified.
• All ineligible applicants will be automatically removed from the competition with no recourse or reimbursement.
• No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win the competition.
• Void wherever restricted or prohibited by law.