SAVIOUR Gets a New Website
SAVIOUR has just got a new site - and this new domain @ www.projectsaviour.org
Do let us know how you like it!
In Iran – Brilliant Blend of Learning, Technology and Culture
We arrived in Iran on the 5th of April (Monday), with our robot, SAVIOUR.
The first day of work was Tuesday. It was all consumed in the setup. We had major technical difficulties, all resulting from the wear and tear of travel on equipment. However, we solved everything, and brought to work nearly all basic assembly. The major drawback - sensors were not in working shape.
There was the introduction of new rules, as we found out. Some of these threw even all the top teams off balance navigating them. Of a total of four missions, we attempted twice, but were unable to fully score victims due to sensory issues and traction problems. Nevertheless, the overall technical blend was clean, with many rival teams coming over for detailed explanations and admiration for the efficiency of design.
Moreover, we impressed some teams enough to be offered an international collaboration by one of the Iranian teams. More will follow on that later.
On the human side, we have found Tehran to be unbelievable city. It's large, expansive, astoundingly beautiful - more so than any city we've ever been to. That includes many European and Asian cities. The people are friendly, modern and look a fair bit like us. The language is ubiquitously Farsi, with very few people understanding any English whatsoever. However, we had the services of the excellent hosts - Qazvin Azad University - who provided translator support.
One note: Iran is not at all like the media portrays it. The city is exceptionally modern, as are all the people. There is complete gender equality. The technology is brilliant, the infrastructure superior and the development awe-inspiring. Tehran, at least, is not a developing city. It's fully developed.
Pictures in the "Pictures" tab at the top of the page.
Off for Iran Open 2010
The SAVIOUR team is off to participate in the RoboCup Iran Open 2010 competition along with the finished mechanical assembly of our robot. In fact, we are right now waiting for our flight at the airport. 
Ready for Iran Open 2010 – Synergising Mech. & Elec.
Saviour II's mechanical design has been fabricated. Now we are combining all the modules of the robot i.e. electrical circuits, various sensors, cameras, ultrasonic range-finder, digital compass on the robot. InshaAllah our robot will be ready for Iran Open 2010 in a couple of days.
Arena Mapping Concept and Coding
Generating a map of the environment of the arena is an important task of the RoboCup Rescue League and we have made several breakthroughs for the first time in this domain. We are using MATLAB, supported by C# software, for the image generation and processing required.
We plan to interface an Ultrasonic Range Finder to communicate the polar co-ordinates of the obstacles around the robot within the arena which we shall use to generate a map of the arena. Most of the coding and sensor testing has already been done.
Getting Ready for the Iran Open 2010
Last year, we wanted to compete in the RoboCup Iran Open Regionals too, but ran into logistical and financial issues. This year, the conditions are far more conducive. And as it stands, our checklist of travel qualifications is nearly complete: visas, airfare, and robotics completeness.
If things go well, as we hope they will, we should be flying to the RoboCup Iran Open 2010 from Karachi on the 4th of April, 2010.
Wish us luck!
Mechanical Fabrication Nearly Complete
The blog on our site may have been dormant for a good long time, but our team has not.
In the past few months, a lot of work has been accomplished. The mechanical fabrication is nearly complete, and testing will soon be underway. This year, we have done away with rolling track flippers and are using the flippers purely as leverage arms. We will rely on much higher traction from the rest of the main tracks to accomplish the task of obstacle crossing.
Fingers crossed as the assembly is completed.
Basic Electronics Concept Design Complete
The basics of the electronic circuitry for acquiring the data from sensors and queuing them up for transmission AND the motor control circuitry has been designed. The whole system will be automated using 8051 micro-controllers and some more assisting IC's. Testing is the next part. Hoping for the best results!
Motors for SAVIOUR II
We went on a purchasing spree for motors for SAVIOUR II. We need different kinds of motors for different sections: very high torque continuous DC motors for the flippers, lesser torque and higher speed motors for the main differential drive, steppers for robotic arm that is being planned and some small continuous DC motors for maneuvering the robotic arm.
We found plenty of cheap steppers to work with the robotic arm. We also had a lucky break finding high torque motors for the flippers: 24V Pittman motors with a 1:144 gear reduction ratio. We are still looking for suitably sized motors for the main drive.
The hunt for the perfect, cheap motors continues...
SAVIOUR II in the works
We are pleased to announce that SAVIOUR II, a much improved and reworked version of the SAVIOUR paradigm is in the works. Design work has already started, some has even completed.
Meanwhile, this site has been updated to keep in view all that has occurred since.