We were approached by Jacques Morneau about a partnership to develop a continuous rotation drum for gillnetting. Twists were occurring while the nets were being hauled in, meaning that the nets would have to be detangled as they were being wound on the drum. The idea was to develop a drum whose main shaft could turn on a perpendicular axis.
After conducting a needs analysis and gathering the necessary information, we agreed on the shared responsibilities of our partnership. We then created a design for a motorized continuous rotation drum that runs on hydraulic power provided by the boat.
We took care of all the engineering work, including design, finite element analysis (FEA), manufacturing drawings, component and manufacturing purchases, overseeing the manufacturing process, and providing the instructions for assembling and starting the drum.
In addition, following successful trials, we took the necessary steps to apply for a patent to protect this innovative new product.
In addition to the project itself, we also created technical and advertising documents to publicize our invention.
Using the drum significantly reduces net haul time (by nearly 1.5 hours/day) and physical effort, allowing Jacques and his team to return to dock.