A team of students from Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology’s (RUET) Department of Mechatronics Engineering have created a remote-controlled robot that can dispose of bombs for the Bangladesh Army. Greek mythology serves as the inspiration for the robot, Hades-X-ZeroThree.
“X-ZeroThree” denotes the robot’s early development phase, while “Hades” is the name of the Greek god of the underworld. The robot is capable of navigating a variety of terrains, such as mud, fields, and high and low roadways, and it can also find and retrieve bombs. The team that built the bomb consisted of Md Al Tasdeed Ul Haque (MTE’19 series), SM Shafayet Jamil (MTE’19), Yashsir Arafat (MTE’20), and Ariful Islam (MTE’20), and Kazi Atif (MTE’19), while the project was overseen by Roknuzzaman Rana, dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and Feroze Ali, chief assistant professor, Mechatronics Engineering.
The robot can lift and carry loads weighing more than 3 kilograms, and it can be controlled by radio waves up to a kilometer away. For safe bomb defusal, it uses a hand that has been particularly created. Along with night vision and illumination for both day and night operations, the integrated wireless cameras and microphones provide real-time video and audio transmission to the operator.
The team encountered multiple challenges while developing, mostly as a result of timing and funding limitations. The team claims that additional resourcefulness was required because to limited financing. They made the majority of the parts, including the wheels, robotic arms, and chassis, themselves in order to get beyond this obstacle. Because the university’s machine shop was closed during the Ramadan vacations, this necessitated using nearby workshops.
The official transfer of Hades-X-ZeroThree to the Bangladesh Army took place on 19 April at the Qadirabad Cantonment in Natore. The team claims that after carefully assessing the robot’s capabilities, Army representatives indicated a desire to work together on further developments.