Design Challenge - September 2011

Jon Pope Design

The omnivore marauder ants are the reason you don’t tie up cattle or children in Africa; they can take down prey that’s hundreds, if not thousands, of times larger than their own size by travelling in millionsstrong groups and swarming all over it. These huge groups travel very efficiently on highways they create on the jungle floor. There are different classes of marauder ants, each with a specific job, and one of the larger super-major worker’s only tasks is to act like a bulldozer and quickly clear a path for the super highway so the other workers can forage en masse for the colony. This super-strong exoskeleton super-major marauder ant seemed the perfect influence for a design of high-speed dozer that can be used to quickly create ‘fire lines’ to help stem forest fires. It can also be used in urban settings to quickly clear debris-strewn streets for emergency vehicles after flood waters or tsunami waters have receded. These high-speed, super-duty, allterrain capabilities allow it to quickly travel to any remote hotspot as needed, just like the marauder ant.

The Marauder Dozer has six track frames with rubber tracks connected to six articulating legs mounted to the chassis. Like the six legs of an ant, they enable the dozer to travel with low ground pressure, providing superior all-terrain capabilities. The legs can jack up the chassis for high ground clearance for easy travel over debris piles, and can also extend far enough to keep the cab dry in up to 15.7ft of water while travelling through water hazards and swamp terrain. They can also jack up the rear end when the centre of gravity needs to be shifted more towards the front to give the front blade better groundbreaking force. A 17.8x8.2ft debris blade on the front of the Marauder Dozer enables dirt and small material to flow through, while catching and moving immobilising debris out of the way. Jacking the track frame legs all the way up enables the dozer to push higher up on larger trees, making them easier to push over. Its large teeth enable the dozer to effortlessly dig up large stumps and old fallen trees that have sunk into the forest floor. The cooling system for the hydraulics and engine is mounted in the middle, with the engine mounted behind to counterbalance the very large and heavy blade at the front. This is just like the gaster on the rear of an ant that enables it to carry and push large objects with its front mandibles. The cab can swing out to each side of the very wide blade for better visibility of the side edges. It can also rotate 45° for shuttle work, which makes for less stress on the operator’s neck and back, and can also rotate 180° to ease backward travel over long distances.

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CONTACT DETAILS

Email: jpope@pope-design.net

Website: www.pope-design.net

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