The Issue
Landlocked countries can experience difficulties gaining access to the resources that they need. A landlocked country is defined as a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean. This makes it harder for these countries to get what they need in a short amount of time. This can impact food and water security, as well as health care and wellness. Some landlocked countries are wealthy, but 32 out of 44 landlocked countries are classified as Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) by the United Nations. Of the 12 poorest countries, 9 are landlocked. Landlocked countries have to rely on neighboring countries to trade through their borders. They have to gain permission and maintain good relationships. This level of dependency can create conflict.
Landlocked countries require a different approach to transportation of goods within the country and supports export/import trade focusing on land and air routes instead of the sea/oceans. We explored ways to use technology to service landlocked countries.
Landlocked countries require a different approach to transportation of goods within the country and supports export/import trade focusing on land and air routes instead of the sea/oceans. We explored ways to use technology to service landlocked countries.
The Solution
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We explored combining magnetic levitation (maglev) and drone technologies to provide clean and efficient networks to transport goods on land and air. Networks of magnetic levitation tunnels will transport levitating cargo pods propelled by electromagnets at speeds of 300 mph. The cargo pods are delivered to distribution warehouses. Cargo would be loaded onto drones to deliver supplies to more remote locations.
Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) tracks work within tunnels that are composed of strong materials. The tunnels can be buried underground or above ground depending on the terrain. Inside the tunnels, football shaped autonomous cargo pods travel at speed of 300 mph. The cargo pods will be delivered to centralized warehouses where the cargo pods are unloaded. Contents of pods can be picked up by trucks for local delivery. Drones can be used for urgent deliveries or for deliveries remote or to difficult to reach locations.
Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) tracks work within tunnels that are composed of strong materials. The tunnels can be buried underground or above ground depending on the terrain. Inside the tunnels, football shaped autonomous cargo pods travel at speed of 300 mph. The cargo pods will be delivered to centralized warehouses where the cargo pods are unloaded. Contents of pods can be picked up by trucks for local delivery. Drones can be used for urgent deliveries or for deliveries remote or to difficult to reach locations.
Case Study: Bostwana
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For our case study, we studied Botswana, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, to explore the issues being faced by landlocked countries.
Botswana's economy depends heavily on the diamond trade, which accounts for 85% of Botswana's export earnings. This is a problem because diamonds are a luxury item so they are not as popular when people are experiencing money issues like during the Covid-19 pandemic. The remainder of their economy depends on tourism and subsistence farming. Subsistence farming is when you make enough to support your family but not enough to sell. Small scale farmers are very susceptible to climate change and droughts. Botswana has experienced droughts where ground water has dried up impacting farming. As well, 1 in 5 adults in Botswana have HIV/AIDS and are unable to join the workforce.
Using a combination of magnetic levitation and drone technologies to provide new clean transportation methods in Botswana will provide the following benefits:
In addition to conducting research on Botswana and other landlocked countries, we shared our ideas with community engineers, science educators, and a mentor at the Patent and Trademark Office. We also met with Zipline employees. The team from Zipline provided a lot of good feedback. One area that we still need to explore is how to improve drone technology to be more easily recovered and to be able to carry a larger payload. Zipline currently has drones that can carry up to 4 lbs.
Botswana's economy depends heavily on the diamond trade, which accounts for 85% of Botswana's export earnings. This is a problem because diamonds are a luxury item so they are not as popular when people are experiencing money issues like during the Covid-19 pandemic. The remainder of their economy depends on tourism and subsistence farming. Subsistence farming is when you make enough to support your family but not enough to sell. Small scale farmers are very susceptible to climate change and droughts. Botswana has experienced droughts where ground water has dried up impacting farming. As well, 1 in 5 adults in Botswana have HIV/AIDS and are unable to join the workforce.
Using a combination of magnetic levitation and drone technologies to provide new clean transportation methods in Botswana will provide the following benefits:
- Reduce the reliance on the diamond trade by increasing opportunities for other exports, such as textiles, cooper, nickel, and beef.
- Subsistence farmers would have the opportunity to plant extra crops, such as sorghum, corn, millet, and cowpeas, that can be quickly exported for profit.
- Water could be more easily brought in during droughts to support subsistence farmers.
- Medications can be more easily delivered to treat HIV/AIDS which will lead to a healthier population and increase the workforce.
In addition to conducting research on Botswana and other landlocked countries, we shared our ideas with community engineers, science educators, and a mentor at the Patent and Trademark Office. We also met with Zipline employees. The team from Zipline provided a lot of good feedback. One area that we still need to explore is how to improve drone technology to be more easily recovered and to be able to carry a larger payload. Zipline currently has drones that can carry up to 4 lbs.
Learn More
Drone Delivery Game
We also began designing an online game to demonstrate to students how hard it is to deliver goods to landlocked areas using Agent Cubes. Click the button below to preview a draft of our game. |
Podcast
Listen to this episode of the STEM Sharks podcast to learn more about some of the questions we still need to address in order to bring our solution to life. |
References
We used a variety of sources to conduct research while developing our solution. We tried to find a variety of reliable sources.
- Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air/b?node=8037720011.
- “Cargo: Air Botswana.” Cargo | Air Botswana, https://www.airbotswana.co.bw/cargo#.
- “How Amazon Drone Delivery Will Work.” YouTube, YouTube, 3 Dec. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzhvR4wm__M.
- “How Do Maglev Trains Work?” YouTube, YouTube, 7 Mar. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-rNILcfTKM.
- Rosenberg, Matt. “How Many African Countries are Landlocked? And Why Does it Matter” ThoughtCo, 21 January 2020, https://www.thoughtco.com/african-countries-that-are-landlocked-4060437
- Rosenberg, Matt. "44 Landlocked Countries Without Direct Ocean Access", Thoughtco, 22 June 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/landlocked-countries-1435421
- “Countries That Are Entirely Surrounded - Enclaves & Landlocked.” YouTube, YouTube, 8 Dec. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvlX6TdIuDc.
- “Instant Logistics.” Zipline, https://flyzipline.com/global-healthcare.
- Intelligence, Insider. “Why Amazon, Ups and Even Domino's Is Investing in Drone Delivery Services.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 6 Jan. 2022, https://www.businessinsider.com/drone-delivery-services.
- "Landlocked Developing Countries". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landlocked_developing_countries.
- "Landlocked Country". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landlocked_country.
- "Air Freight: A Market Study with Implications for Landlocked Countries". https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/transport/publication/air-freight-study
- "Landlocked Countries: Higher Transport Costs, Delays, Less Trade". https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2008/06/16/landlocked-countries-higher-transport-costs-delays-less-trade
- "How to Improve Transport in Landlocked Developing Countries". https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/01/how-to-improve-transport-in-landlocked-developing-countries/