SSARS Summary - William Nelson
 
Quantum Engineering Design (QED) Incoporated is a research and development firm based in Corvallis, OR. Michael Plackett, QED President, has been involved in the design and production of key innovations utilized by the military including clamshell buildings, misc hovercraft design, Rapidly Installed Breakwater System (RIBS), LCAC skirt systems, Lightweight Modular Causeway System (LMCS) pneumatics, among others. Mr Plackett's experience also extends to the oil industry, contracting with Shell Oil - Netherlands, Parker Drilling, and Oryx to name a few.

The key current QED contract is with the Marine Corp Development Command Center under the program name of SSARS (Selective Shipboard Access and Retrieval System). This program is in response to the Seabasing Strategy, which is essentially a "port-free" method of deploying materiele from ocean-going vessels. To successfully implement this approach, load plans and deployment must become independent of each other. First-on, last-off is a limitation that must be mitigated.

Here is a 9 minute synopsis of QED and the SSARS project to date:
 

There are three essential components within the SSARS program. We want to explore potential commercial application for any or all of them. It is envisioned that all would share common remote control capability, and two of them (ORLAM and CLMS) would share a common power module which houses electrical, hydraulic, and logic systems. All are powered via onboard battery systems. Future upgrades will include laser guidance systems to provide autonomous, automatic positioning and interfacing with cargo. Other features such as hydraulics and general design will no doubt see further improvements from the current demonstrator models. Not all clips have soundtracks, but should be fairly self-explanatory.

The first component is the Selective Positioning Independent Deck-Cargo Re-Locator, or SPIDR. I swear, we spend half our time coming up with clever and appropriate acronyms!
 

The SPIDR is slated for some major revisions to the version seen here, but as a proof-of-concept-demonstrator, it has been very effective.

The next component is the C-LMS, or Container Lift and Manuevering System:

The current version is track configuration, but we are currently developing a wheeled version which offers much more flexibility:

The third piece of the puzzle is the ORLAM, or Opposed Ramp Lift And Manuevering system. This clip shows the lifting of a tank by the units in a time-condensed clip to reflect the reduced level of testing power:

The power module merits its own mention here. Our current design of Lithium battery power is leading the technology for this sort of application. The low profile and compact design of the module with its batteries, hydraulics, and computerized logic systems, could prove to be a valuable component.

Finally, here is a more complete overview of the SSARS efforts as it relates to robotic technologies. This a a recent 30 minute presentation given at an anual conference held at Duck, North Carolina:

SUMMARY

After several years of development of the SSARS program, we feel that it is a good time to take the pulse of the "real world" to see if any of these concepts lend themselves to commercial or other specialized applications.