Unmanned boats hold new hope
Seeing the small boats navigating through the course marked in the pool apparently on their own, one has to wonder how it was happening.
The tiny boats were being maneuvered by a remote control device developed by Rakibul Haq alias Prince, a fourth year student at Buet's Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NAME) department.
On May 14, the department arranged the country's first unmanned boat race in the swimming pool of Dhaka University.
Over 90 contestants took part in the event with boats of different models.
Prince's classmates Tariq Wazed Akash was the designer of the models and Shadman Sakib Siam assembled other equipment during the competition.
Prince said the controlling device was installed in mobile phones and other wireless equipment during the programme sponsored by Khulna Shipyard, an enterprise of Bangladesh Navy.
Asked how they came up with such an idea, Akash said, “It was over a year ago after we three as a team won a competition styled Innovation of Mobile Apps Challenge organised by the Computer Science and Engineering department of the Buet.”
“After that, we started thinking about doing something new that could help locate and rescue sunken vessels, and the unmanned boats are the first step towards achieving our aim.
“If we really can develop a device for locating sunken vessels and install it in such boats or ships of larger seize, it will be possible to trace sunken launches, like Pinak-6,” said Akash.
Prince said, “Developing the device has been our long-cherished dream and to fulfill it, we have already built a system called capsizing alert system.”
The software developer claimed that once the device was ready, it would warn vessel crews when those reached “vulnerable points.”
The system through which sunken vessels would be located is called “post-capsizing detection system”.
He said to locate sunken vessels ultrasonic sound-based electronic chip in a fiber box would be installed under the deck. The rescuers would know about the vessel's whereabouts through the device.
The device which is also called Fish Finder is the modified version of sonar, an acronym for sound navigation and ranging, a technique used in submarines, said Prince.
The project in which the students were working was funded by Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP) of the ministry of education.
Prince said they wanted the boat competition get affiliated with regular international events, the way the BD Math Olympiad got connected with the International Math Olympiad.
Hailing such initiative, Prof Masud Karim of the NAME said, “We are amazed by the idea of unmanned boat race, the brainchild of Prince, Akash and Siam.”
To get more dynamic outputs from students, they launched a project for developing the devices, he added.
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