Rigging up the Wireline
And, I am back, with one hell of an experience. During May-June 2010, or rather ending yesterday, I was a Summer Intern or a Vacation Trainee at the Rajahmundry base of the Wireline segment of Schlumberger.
For the yet to be introduced, Rajahmundry is a place in coastal Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the place, along with Kakinada from where the oilfields of the Krishna-Godavari(KG) basin are operated. ONGC has a base here too.
And, Wireline is basically sending a bundle of sensors, called "Tools", the bundle being called "Tool-String", down an oil-well to find out the parameters of the well.
So, a lot of things happened, which i had never imagined would ever happen in my life. The prime points being working in a shop-floor of one of the most happening industries of the world. Visiting an oil rig, at the mouth of the Godavari, and making a temperature measurement box which is being used for the operations.
To begin with, i'll give you a list of the things which I did in the first 6 days : - Washed a set of oil-covered tools with a big water gun, applied grease on giant screws, cut through 2 inches of wood with a hacksaw, lifted 70kg cylinders, stood 3m from a radioactive source, used an iron spanner on a giant magnetic tool and got it stuck to the tool :D, pushed 150 kg trolleys all around the shop floor, wore 3 layers of clothing + a helmet + woollen gloves + thick safety glasses out in the sun at 45C, Got into a huge Renault truck, scrubbed large cylindrical tools, de-rusted king-sized bolts, helped debug a 12-foot long circuit board.
So, i bet you must have got an idea :)
Anyways, afterwards, this seemed to be totally normal. The most common thing done was connecting tool strings for the engineers to simulate, check and calibrate. It was really awesome to work with such big things.
Fortunately I had the company of one of my friends, and dep-mate, Debotosh. Was great, helping each other at times of need :)
And, a visit to an Oil Rig was simply one great learning experience.
In the wireline segment, the rig operation is basically sending a tool string down to the well. For that, 2 pulleys are attached to the rig. One at the rig-floor and the other at a height of about 300 feet! This is called a Rig-Up. It was just awesome to see the pulley going up and the tools being sent down. And, again observing from the control unit, how the cable-drum was being controlled. :)
During the rig visit, got the chance to ride on the Schlumberger truck, custom-made by Renault. We were probably on one of worst roads of India, deep inside the villages of AP, and it was really smooth. Even the seats had air suspension in them!!
I also saw my first ever HIMYM episode, at the rig, on the engineer's lappy, inside this truck, waiting for a crate of explosives to arrive!
Must say, an experience of a lifetime :)
The next part, was making a project. For certain tools, the engineers have to cool it down with liquid CO2 before sending it down the well. So, my job was to locally make a temperature measurement box. Not the simple circuits we use in labs. But, one rugged, shock-proof, weather-proof, humidity-proof temperature measurement box! Trust me, that was one hell of a job. And, fortunately, i could design and complete it within a period of 4 weeks!
Apart from all that, made a lot of friends. Met people from across the world!
In fact, to list out the nationalities I met :- Lebanese, Iraqi, Jordanian, Egyptian, Japanese, American, Mexican, Indonesian and of course Indian :P.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
What do they actually want?
The last post was a bit hasty. But, this one will be in more detail.
The question right now we face is, how do we tackle this whole situation? The continuous terrorist attacks occurring in our country, every few months have left a scar on everybody's mind, a dent on the country's ideology. After all, who is carrying out all this? And, what do they really want?
The answer to "who" is obviously the terrorists, the Mujahideen, the radical islamic terrorists. Apparently they are termed as "Indian Mujahideen". And, obviously, help and support from people across the western border is always there.
After all, what do they really want? What will they get by doing such acts of cowardice? If they really want to fight, they can simply come up and face the army, and take over the country. But, apparently that's not what they want. They hide from the forces and carry out blasts in the middle of busy market places. That may be because they want to show that they are the "hidden killer". They probably want to terrorize the minds of the people. But, such terrorism remains only till the news channel shows up, and it is forgotten. And, in the end, what will they achieve by terrorizing our minds? They can't topple democracy by doing this!
Do they want what they fondly call "Azad Kashmir"? Well, they need to face the 1.3 million strong Indian army and other military forces for that. Doesn't seem to be feasible. So, in the end, what do they want??
Do they have a message to convey each time they carry out an attack? Do they want to derail the so called "peace process"? Do they want war between the two neighbours? What will they get by that? The word "peace" never comes into mind when dealing with pakistan. What will they get if there is a war? Will they get the satisfaction that "something" is happening? Will they see Jihad in that? There have already been 4 wars, 1947,1965,1971 and 1999. All have been fruitless on their side. Is it their anger of humiliation in these wars which is showing up in these attacks?
The question remains unanswered. We can only estimate and speculate. Nothing else. I would love to hear comments on this.
Let us take ourselves back to pre-1989 periods. Governed by Zia-ul-Haq, he was the man who brought all Mujahideen into pakistan, and called them to fight, against the Soviets and against India. His efforts in building up the Jihadi infrastructure has bore fruit, and terrorism is there everywhere around. He might have had a different vision than what is happening in the present day. He was a military General and a dictator, chief of the Pakistan military. He was one of the angered generals for sure. He was the one who pushed Islamic militancy into Pakistan. And, started a proxy war! Wait a minute,....Proxy War?? That was the time when militants were being trained for pushing the Soviets out of Afghanistan, and thanks to the Cold War era, he received a lot of funds from the US. That was used for training the Mujahideen, to fight a religious war against the Soviet Union. And, as Wikipedia says, the war left deep scars on Pakistan. It initiated and spread the Kalashnikov culture. Rather, the AK-47 culture. It is estimated there are 20 million fire-arms in Pakistan, out of 160 million people. Just imagine, every eighth person having a fire-arm! And, then, the pakistan army diverted the Mujahideen towards the Indian side, and hence the rise in Islamic terrorism in the late 90s.
Well, the conclusion is that the present day Jihadis have Pakistan Army and ISI backing. Now, lets take a look at the situation afresh.
In most countries, the State has the Army. But, in Pakistan, the Army has the state, as is visible from the repeated coups. That means, the army functions independent of the state functioning, rather, the army controls the state functioning. Put in simple words, the proxy war continues, but now against India.
Fast forwarding to the present day, politicians claim that the terrorists want to derail "peace talks". Well, the peace talks are being done with the Pakistani elite, who either have no relation with the army, or are simply their puppets. The probability of the latter being much higher.
So, the people who are attacking us, are also the people who are accepting "peace talks". And, as has been seen in the past 2 decades, it will as obviously be broken, because the anger and attitude of the Pakistan army cannot be contained by simple "democratic talks"!
And again, we come back to the question, what do they actually want?
The people accepting "peace talk" proposals are the same people derailing them. So, where are they heading to? Are they in a make-break game, and get the joy of killing a certain number of civilians? Or, are they upto a War?
Well, pakistan army is one army which has been scarred by the wars with India before. They might be wanting revenge.
It is still totally unclear, after all, what do they actually want?
The question right now we face is, how do we tackle this whole situation? The continuous terrorist attacks occurring in our country, every few months have left a scar on everybody's mind, a dent on the country's ideology. After all, who is carrying out all this? And, what do they really want?
The answer to "who" is obviously the terrorists, the Mujahideen, the radical islamic terrorists. Apparently they are termed as "Indian Mujahideen". And, obviously, help and support from people across the western border is always there.
After all, what do they really want? What will they get by doing such acts of cowardice? If they really want to fight, they can simply come up and face the army, and take over the country. But, apparently that's not what they want. They hide from the forces and carry out blasts in the middle of busy market places. That may be because they want to show that they are the "hidden killer". They probably want to terrorize the minds of the people. But, such terrorism remains only till the news channel shows up, and it is forgotten. And, in the end, what will they achieve by terrorizing our minds? They can't topple democracy by doing this!
Do they want what they fondly call "Azad Kashmir"? Well, they need to face the 1.3 million strong Indian army and other military forces for that. Doesn't seem to be feasible. So, in the end, what do they want??
Do they have a message to convey each time they carry out an attack? Do they want to derail the so called "peace process"? Do they want war between the two neighbours? What will they get by that? The word "peace" never comes into mind when dealing with pakistan. What will they get if there is a war? Will they get the satisfaction that "something" is happening? Will they see Jihad in that? There have already been 4 wars, 1947,1965,1971 and 1999. All have been fruitless on their side. Is it their anger of humiliation in these wars which is showing up in these attacks?
The question remains unanswered. We can only estimate and speculate. Nothing else. I would love to hear comments on this.
Let us take ourselves back to pre-1989 periods. Governed by Zia-ul-Haq, he was the man who brought all Mujahideen into pakistan, and called them to fight, against the Soviets and against India. His efforts in building up the Jihadi infrastructure has bore fruit, and terrorism is there everywhere around. He might have had a different vision than what is happening in the present day. He was a military General and a dictator, chief of the Pakistan military. He was one of the angered generals for sure. He was the one who pushed Islamic militancy into Pakistan. And, started a proxy war! Wait a minute,....Proxy War?? That was the time when militants were being trained for pushing the Soviets out of Afghanistan, and thanks to the Cold War era, he received a lot of funds from the US. That was used for training the Mujahideen, to fight a religious war against the Soviet Union. And, as Wikipedia says, the war left deep scars on Pakistan. It initiated and spread the Kalashnikov culture. Rather, the AK-47 culture. It is estimated there are 20 million fire-arms in Pakistan, out of 160 million people. Just imagine, every eighth person having a fire-arm! And, then, the pakistan army diverted the Mujahideen towards the Indian side, and hence the rise in Islamic terrorism in the late 90s.
Well, the conclusion is that the present day Jihadis have Pakistan Army and ISI backing. Now, lets take a look at the situation afresh.
In most countries, the State has the Army. But, in Pakistan, the Army has the state, as is visible from the repeated coups. That means, the army functions independent of the state functioning, rather, the army controls the state functioning. Put in simple words, the proxy war continues, but now against India.
Fast forwarding to the present day, politicians claim that the terrorists want to derail "peace talks". Well, the peace talks are being done with the Pakistani elite, who either have no relation with the army, or are simply their puppets. The probability of the latter being much higher.
So, the people who are attacking us, are also the people who are accepting "peace talks". And, as has been seen in the past 2 decades, it will as obviously be broken, because the anger and attitude of the Pakistan army cannot be contained by simple "democratic talks"!
And again, we come back to the question, what do they actually want?
The people accepting "peace talk" proposals are the same people derailing them. So, where are they heading to? Are they in a make-break game, and get the joy of killing a certain number of civilians? Or, are they upto a War?
Well, pakistan army is one army which has been scarred by the wars with India before. They might be wanting revenge.
It is still totally unclear, after all, what do they actually want?
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Haven't we had enough??
I wouldn't like to say much.
But, I would be glad to allow the statistics to say it out.
December 2001 : New Delhi, Parliament, 12 dead.
September 2002: Akshardham,34 lives.
Aug 2003: Mumbai, Gateway of India,46 dead.
October 2005: New Delhi, Day before Diwali,3 Bombs, 62 Dead.
December 2005 : Bangalore, IISc campus, 1 killed, 4 injured.
March 2006: Varanasi, 2 bombs, Train Station and Sankat Mochan Temple, 20 dead.
July 2006: Mumbai, 7 Bombs, Local Trains, 200 dead, 700 injured.
September 2006: Malegaon, MH. 2 bombs, 30 dead, 100 injured.
February 2007: Samjhauta Express, 2 bombs, 66 dead.
May 2007: Hyderabad, 1 bomb, 11 dead.
August 2007: Hyderabad, 2 bombs, 32 dead.
October 2007: Ajmer, Ajmer Sharif Shrine, 2 dead.
May 2008: Jaipur, 8 bombs, 65 dead, 150 injured.
July 2008: Bangalore, 2 killed.
September 2008: New Delhi,26 dead.
November 2009, Mumbai, 173 Dead
February 2010, Pune, 8 dead and counting
Adding up the above numbers, it comes up to 764.
The case is not about simply the numbers. After all, how long can we sit like stones and practise restraint? How long? How long can we just stay back like a coward and practise non-violence and ahinsa?? How long? Did it have any effect in the past 60 years? NO!! How long can we be a "peaceful" country and get our own citizens killed at the hands of terrorists across the border.
Continuing what I mentioned, the case is not about the numbers, it is about how much we have been blown apart. The militants have reached right at the heart of the country's financial capital, at the cradle of the most sacred Hindu city, at the seat of the most sacred Islamic shrine, at the most revered Educational Institution,at the nodal point of the country's democracy, at the busiest market places, at all places where normal people go.
After all, how long can we keep facing the blows and continue with some crap, which the politicians fondly called "peace talks"?
If our innocent people are being killed, why do we sit silent and keep watching? And why do we still have cricket diplomacy with the killers? Why do we still keep on employing the method of "peace talks" which has repeatedly failed over the last few decades, when we know that they are obviously going to be broken???
The country seriously needs a revolution.
But, I would be glad to allow the statistics to say it out.
December 2001 : New Delhi, Parliament, 12 dead.
September 2002: Akshardham,34 lives.
Aug 2003: Mumbai, Gateway of India,46 dead.
October 2005: New Delhi, Day before Diwali,3 Bombs, 62 Dead.
December 2005 : Bangalore, IISc campus, 1 killed, 4 injured.
March 2006: Varanasi, 2 bombs, Train Station and Sankat Mochan Temple, 20 dead.
July 2006: Mumbai, 7 Bombs, Local Trains, 200 dead, 700 injured.
September 2006: Malegaon, MH. 2 bombs, 30 dead, 100 injured.
February 2007: Samjhauta Express, 2 bombs, 66 dead.
May 2007: Hyderabad, 1 bomb, 11 dead.
August 2007: Hyderabad, 2 bombs, 32 dead.
October 2007: Ajmer, Ajmer Sharif Shrine, 2 dead.
May 2008: Jaipur, 8 bombs, 65 dead, 150 injured.
July 2008: Bangalore, 2 killed.
September 2008: New Delhi,26 dead.
November 2009, Mumbai, 173 Dead
February 2010, Pune, 8 dead and counting
Adding up the above numbers, it comes up to 764.
The case is not about simply the numbers. After all, how long can we sit like stones and practise restraint? How long? How long can we just stay back like a coward and practise non-violence and ahinsa?? How long? Did it have any effect in the past 60 years? NO!! How long can we be a "peaceful" country and get our own citizens killed at the hands of terrorists across the border.
Continuing what I mentioned, the case is not about the numbers, it is about how much we have been blown apart. The militants have reached right at the heart of the country's financial capital, at the cradle of the most sacred Hindu city, at the seat of the most sacred Islamic shrine, at the most revered Educational Institution,at the nodal point of the country's democracy, at the busiest market places, at all places where normal people go.
After all, how long can we keep facing the blows and continue with some crap, which the politicians fondly called "peace talks"?
If our innocent people are being killed, why do we sit silent and keep watching? And why do we still have cricket diplomacy with the killers? Why do we still keep on employing the method of "peace talks" which has repeatedly failed over the last few decades, when we know that they are obviously going to be broken???
The country seriously needs a revolution.
Monday, February 1, 2010
ROBOTIX 2010 : Of Standards, Difficulties and Numbers
Well, we have another year of ROBOTIX, Tenth year that is. We started out to push ROBOTIX as a platform to promote free thinking among the engineering fraternity and let technology break free from the chains of department labs and examination halls.
To be honest, all my expectations were fulfilled in this particular ROBOTIX. There have been 9 ROBOTIXes before this one. What change have we achieved? As has been explained by several of the cordis, alums and very recently by Golu, we have achieved a lot.
It started off in 2001, with a meagre participation, all in-house. The focus at that time was improvement of quality and quantity. Things were quite hazy and people were confused, but determined to make it grow. Growth meant two things, quality and quantity. Things went on till we had some 30 odd teams in 2004. Then in 2005, TRS entered a new phase. Enter Aneesh and Golu. TRS was officially formed and recognized under gymkhana. The concept of a "junta event" was introduced. For the unknown, "junta event" was one particular event which was relatively easy, and involved maximum people's participation, and sometimes entertained the on-lookers.
Year 2005 : That increased the participation to 220 teams in 2005, totally unexpected. That was the time when exponential growth in participation began, and it did begin with a roar. That meant more and more people were making bots. Taking the logic further, that meant that more people have started thinking freely. That was a positive sign and we started pushing for more participants.
Year 2006. Enter Anant Choube. While publicizing for ROBOTIX, we heard complaints from the colleges we visited that unfair measures were being used, with usual complaints like partiality etc. So, Anant made up his mind that ROBOTIX 2006 will be participant-friendly, and the participant will be rewarded for his effort. That was aimed at cultivating a good image of ROBOTIX among the general junta. We had something around 280 teams in 2006.
Year 2007 : Last year's participant-friendliness resulted in a surge in the numerical participation, with 550 teams coming to KGP for ROBOTIX 2007. Along with all this, the standard kept on improving, though not as fast as the numbers grew. This year saw some of the legendary events such as Grid Navigator, which became standards for the subsequent years.
Enter Aamir, the man who had pushed technicalities to a new zone.
Year 2008 : This is the year i saw ROBOTIX for the first time, an awesome experience. The numerical participation escalated to more than a 1000 teams! Honestly, the team seemed to be overburdened. The participation in the autonomous event Robo Relay was so large that it was termed as the first autonomous-junta-event! It was for the first time an event had a participation number as big as 350, as seen in Terra Ranger. The numbers were quite impressive, but there were several realizations which we had to wake up to. That was the year when we realized that there was no point in increasing the participation. We had to limit the participation. By then, we realized that we had the power to attract 1000 teams to KGP, whenever we wished. So, the focus was bound to change. The focus is now on technical advancements. Giving the people more challenging and real life problem statements in the field of robotics was our main task at that moment. Something similar was said when Aneesh visited the campus. My views on that can be viewed here. Something which Sassy pointed out, and felt bad about, was that it had become a certificate mela. People coming with simple differential drives and asking for certificates.
Year 2009 : We had come to a new phase. The focus now was on the quality of the teams. The quality of the robots they made. Simple differential drives were to be killed. A certificate policy was to be decided so that only the deserving teams get certificates. This changed a lot of things. The legendary 8Mile was introduced. Estimates said that the participation would decrease drastically. 8Mile was tougher than any other event our country had ever seen, or rather thought of. Honestly, it was unimaginably difficult. Next came 12 Doors Down, much tougher than last year's Robo Relay. Plus, the mechanical events were naturally tougher than those of last year. We were forecasting drastic reduction in the participation.
But, clearing away our fears, due to the simplicity of wEDGED and #mEsh, several teams arrived, with the number being at 800.
Year 2010 : Enter my batch. We felt that improvement of difficulties was imminent. Hoping that 8Mile would some day reach DARPA levels, we decided to continue with the legendary 8Mile, we elevated the difficulty and renamed it to 8MileX, to mark our 10th anniversary. We introduced the first ever underwater event, held in a swanky perspex tank, eXplore. As another first, we introduced the first ever 10-hr robot-making event, TribotX Championship. And, the previous two were probably the first ever manual non-junta events :D. Also, we introduced the first ever autonomous event requiring special mechanical skills, in other words, the first ever "mechatronic" event, Xtension. Along with all these, we had Xplode, where we experimented with metal detection with the metal embedded beneath a wooden surface.
Considering the difficulty of the events at present, it would be insufficient to call this as phenomenal! The participation numbers went down to something around 450 teams, but the standard improvement was extraordinary!
Apart from the standard, the event was totally chaos-free, felt immense happiness as a head. Commanding a fantastic team, where everyone put one's best, to make this possible, it was simply superb.
Also, something which I hadn't noticed, but pointed out by Golu, that all the events had some or the other significance with respect to the real-life problems faced by people. These turned out to be standard engineering problems. Things like automated vehicle guidance, mine detection and avoidance, instant bridge construction, underwater rescue and even material sorting; all were implied in the events.
We have started going on the path of technological improvements in ROBOTIX. I hope this is the beginning of a new phase, where old mindsets are replaced by new and radical ones, where people aren't afraid to think and aim high. Where Standards matter more than Numbers.
I personally feel we are treading in the right direction.
All I can do now is hope that the future batches will go in the right direction.
All the best to my dear sub-heads and members.
And, never forget, as Swapnil says :
eNJOY!!
To be honest, all my expectations were fulfilled in this particular ROBOTIX. There have been 9 ROBOTIXes before this one. What change have we achieved? As has been explained by several of the cordis, alums and very recently by Golu, we have achieved a lot.
It started off in 2001, with a meagre participation, all in-house. The focus at that time was improvement of quality and quantity. Things were quite hazy and people were confused, but determined to make it grow. Growth meant two things, quality and quantity. Things went on till we had some 30 odd teams in 2004. Then in 2005, TRS entered a new phase. Enter Aneesh and Golu. TRS was officially formed and recognized under gymkhana. The concept of a "junta event" was introduced. For the unknown, "junta event" was one particular event which was relatively easy, and involved maximum people's participation, and sometimes entertained the on-lookers.
Year 2005 : That increased the participation to 220 teams in 2005, totally unexpected. That was the time when exponential growth in participation began, and it did begin with a roar. That meant more and more people were making bots. Taking the logic further, that meant that more people have started thinking freely. That was a positive sign and we started pushing for more participants.
Year 2006. Enter Anant Choube. While publicizing for ROBOTIX, we heard complaints from the colleges we visited that unfair measures were being used, with usual complaints like partiality etc. So, Anant made up his mind that ROBOTIX 2006 will be participant-friendly, and the participant will be rewarded for his effort. That was aimed at cultivating a good image of ROBOTIX among the general junta. We had something around 280 teams in 2006.
Year 2007 : Last year's participant-friendliness resulted in a surge in the numerical participation, with 550 teams coming to KGP for ROBOTIX 2007. Along with all this, the standard kept on improving, though not as fast as the numbers grew. This year saw some of the legendary events such as Grid Navigator, which became standards for the subsequent years.
Enter Aamir, the man who had pushed technicalities to a new zone.
Year 2008 : This is the year i saw ROBOTIX for the first time, an awesome experience. The numerical participation escalated to more than a 1000 teams! Honestly, the team seemed to be overburdened. The participation in the autonomous event Robo Relay was so large that it was termed as the first autonomous-junta-event! It was for the first time an event had a participation number as big as 350, as seen in Terra Ranger. The numbers were quite impressive, but there were several realizations which we had to wake up to. That was the year when we realized that there was no point in increasing the participation. We had to limit the participation. By then, we realized that we had the power to attract 1000 teams to KGP, whenever we wished. So, the focus was bound to change. The focus is now on technical advancements. Giving the people more challenging and real life problem statements in the field of robotics was our main task at that moment. Something similar was said when Aneesh visited the campus. My views on that can be viewed here. Something which Sassy pointed out, and felt bad about, was that it had become a certificate mela. People coming with simple differential drives and asking for certificates.
Year 2009 : We had come to a new phase. The focus now was on the quality of the teams. The quality of the robots they made. Simple differential drives were to be killed. A certificate policy was to be decided so that only the deserving teams get certificates. This changed a lot of things. The legendary 8Mile was introduced. Estimates said that the participation would decrease drastically. 8Mile was tougher than any other event our country had ever seen, or rather thought of. Honestly, it was unimaginably difficult. Next came 12 Doors Down, much tougher than last year's Robo Relay. Plus, the mechanical events were naturally tougher than those of last year. We were forecasting drastic reduction in the participation.
But, clearing away our fears, due to the simplicity of wEDGED and #mEsh, several teams arrived, with the number being at 800.
Year 2010 : Enter my batch. We felt that improvement of difficulties was imminent. Hoping that 8Mile would some day reach DARPA levels, we decided to continue with the legendary 8Mile, we elevated the difficulty and renamed it to 8MileX, to mark our 10th anniversary. We introduced the first ever underwater event, held in a swanky perspex tank, eXplore. As another first, we introduced the first ever 10-hr robot-making event, TribotX Championship. And, the previous two were probably the first ever manual non-junta events :D. Also, we introduced the first ever autonomous event requiring special mechanical skills, in other words, the first ever "mechatronic" event, Xtension. Along with all these, we had Xplode, where we experimented with metal detection with the metal embedded beneath a wooden surface.
Considering the difficulty of the events at present, it would be insufficient to call this as phenomenal! The participation numbers went down to something around 450 teams, but the standard improvement was extraordinary!
Apart from the standard, the event was totally chaos-free, felt immense happiness as a head. Commanding a fantastic team, where everyone put one's best, to make this possible, it was simply superb.
Also, something which I hadn't noticed, but pointed out by Golu, that all the events had some or the other significance with respect to the real-life problems faced by people. These turned out to be standard engineering problems. Things like automated vehicle guidance, mine detection and avoidance, instant bridge construction, underwater rescue and even material sorting; all were implied in the events.
We have started going on the path of technological improvements in ROBOTIX. I hope this is the beginning of a new phase, where old mindsets are replaced by new and radical ones, where people aren't afraid to think and aim high. Where Standards matter more than Numbers.
I personally feel we are treading in the right direction.
All I can do now is hope that the future batches will go in the right direction.
All the best to my dear sub-heads and members.
And, never forget, as Swapnil says :
eNJOY!!
Monday, February 2, 2009
ROBOTIX 2009
Sometimes it feels that time always makes things better. This time, it has been proved. A much better chaos-free event; as compared to last year.
There were several changes which I observed, and I would be highly thankful to the team.
Now, I am really grateful to sneha and gaurav for being so dedicated at the 12dd arena, and never made me feel a burden of the event. I was astonished after seeing that aditya managed 350 teams in wEDGED, and was still unfazed! Swapnil, I guess your labour has bore fruit, with the floating job perfectly done. Sanhita and Rohit, #mEsh was wonderful :) . Sanjiban, I know of your frustration being at the 8mile arena, a distance away from the family you are a part of, but I am proud of the fact that the 8mile event has been successful, all thanx to your sincerity of standing in the sun all day, and making the team run the bots. ( your darkened face was awesome :P ) Ankur, thanks for your technical prowess all along.
A special mention to all the cordis, whose presence was an assurance, that things would chug along peacefully! Bhaddu, KT, Ritwik, Akash, KG, Prerit, DeepC, Anshuman, Apurv. Honestly speaking, when you were present at the arena, the feeling of " Don't worry, things will go on smoothly" was always there in me!
And, we had a visit by the man whom we owe all this to. Sumandeep a.k.a Golu. We had waited a long time to see him, I had some instances of interaction with him at the 12DD arena. He even dissolved a chaos by brain-washing a team :D.
Sassy, missed you a lot on the arena. I still remember your jhaad to a participant at TR last year. :) I really miss it!
Coming to my fellow sub-heads; Aditi, help desk was really awesome! There was never a time that I asked for something at the help desk and she did not give it, be it a scale, eraser, stapler or anything!! Rasna, ASME conduction was really great. Considering the fact that you had to patiently wait till the teams completed the bots. And, I am sorry for the fact that the decision was taken by profs who had no relation with the hard-work done by the participants. Girish, thanx a lot for patiently editing my video lecture :P, and also for the different types of support given by you. Saurya, I admire your patience of being at the 8mile arena, just as Sanjiban was.
Samar, floating job was awesome! Helped a lot. Utsav, wEDGED to macha diye bhaiya. Palkush, your work has no words to be described. Mithilesh, thanks for being a help-desk manager :P, and i wonder which event has not been touched by you!
And, I would like to thank all members, coz each one of you machaoed in your own way!
Unfortunately I couldn't interact with everyone for a long time; but anyways, I am specially happy with shruti for being so patient at the 12dd arena, and immediately running whenever required. The same goes for parth, rahul, sanjoy, akshat, manpro and kirti.
In the end, as Swapnil said..
eNJOY!!!
ROBOTIX KA TEMPO HIGH HAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Rubik's cube Solver bot
Rubik’s Cube Solving Robot ki kahani, project team members ki zubani! :)
Members of the project team : -
patty, amal, satheNarrated by Amaleshwar : -
We had planned out a proper training on robotics during our summer vacations. Thanx to pranav bhai, we got a chance at PARI ( Precision Automation and Robotics India Ltd.) We had no idea what exactly would we be doing at PARI. We had heard that they are basically an industrial robotics firm, with no relation with the grid navigators and obstacle avoiders we had been doing all this time. So, we thought that we might have a tough time competing with 3rd yrs. We, the IITians, had some pride of being IITians! And, this thing was at stake. But, still, the tempo was high, we had decided to learn something or the other! Whatever they would teach us, we would somehow or the other gobble up and learn something useful. With this mindset, pranav bhai approached the training-in-charge.
Then came the twist in the story. The man, named N. R .Kulkarni, or better known among us as Kulkarni, told us that our dreams cannot be fulfilled! i.e. They would not accept little facchas as trainees! L
And, to add to that, he was simply not ready to entertain 3 first years’ physical presence at the PARI campus. So…………hence……………..we were feeling the heat of our shattered dreams! L
But, kahaani mein twist hai mere dost….. he asked pranav to get an efficient algorithm to solve the most famed and mysterious puzzle in the world….. The Rubik’s Cube.
At that time… I was in
That day, in the evening… pranav bhai called me up and told me about the disastrous chat he had with Mr.Kulkarni.
Here goes the conversation
Pranav: - Abe, woh rubik’s cube ke upar koi efficient algo dhoondne ko bola hai.
Amaleshwar: - Kaun sa cube????? Kuchh suna hua types lag raha hai.
Pranav: - Abe rubik’s cube!
Amaleshwar: - Abe teri! Haan yaad aya! Arre haan, aisa kuchh hota hai. Abe!!! Yeh kya diya hai??? Kuchh biped quadraped nahi mila kya usko? Yeh kya utha ke diya hai woh?
Pranav: - Kya karein yaar! Woh jo bola hai wohi karna padega! Apan decide nahi kar sakte hain apna project!
Amaleshwar : - Bhak!
And then, started the series of messaging controversies. Mr.Pushkar Sathe, or rather Sathe, was a quite a halu listener. We decided that I will do some fight maring at hyd, and pranav will do some along with sathe.
But, I think meri kismet kharab thi! Akele karne mein itna frustapa hoga yeh upar wala bhi nahi jaanta tha! L
Now, pranav continues with the narration : -
Pehle 3 din toh barbad the………..soch soch ke dimag ka lassi ho
Fourth day pe kucch kuchh samaz aa raha tha……..wen I was Trying to get how we change the positions of minicubes @ sathe’s house!!........
And WOW……………..i could place the First corner piece as per given in algo on my own after 3 days!!!!!!!!!(After huha Frustapa)
Uske baad bahot sara Fight marne ke baad……………FINALLY I SOLVED THE FIRST RUBIK’S CUBE IN MY LIFE @
On the day after the next, I was supposed to call NRK but………..on 21st my Grandpa xpired……………..so I was unable to continue with d project 4 the time being!!!!..............Meanwhile………Amaleshwar
Was Fight maring on Algos……………..
Ya.one more thing to write……….beech me ek bar sathe ke pehchan ke ek prof the….who was teaching Maths in IITB few yrs ago!!.....Sathe was interested more in getting the Maths behind the cube(I was saying …………sale cube nahi ban raha hai……….maths ke peeche pada hai…….Fukka lagega maths me jindagi bhar)…….but we removed dat thought after following xplanation By Mr.prof
“You can find the 6 determinants for ‘every combination’ of the cube……..and in order to get the final solved cube you can perform determinant operations on that!!.............”
Funda toh accha tha but how does it look after hearing this
“ There are 43 billion combinations of this Damn Cube”
Now sathe was saying--- maths
Same case with me!! J
Finally after 8-10 days of frustapa………..we have got a decent enough human compatible algo to solve the cube!!!...I was gathering Courage 2 tell this to Mr.Kulkarni…………
!!
On 28th May i called NRK and told this to him…………..his reaction was “OK..thik hai”
I was saying –sale, itna fight marke algo laya hai…….kucch toh ‘gud’ ya ‘accha’ types bol
Now AMAL will continue------
To chalo bhai log.. continue karte hain… algo ke bare mein pranav ne bataya NRK ko… usne sirf “OK” keh ke use frust kiya. Uske baad, bot ke mech design ke bare mein fone pe hi bataya! Which was virtually impossible to be understood, even if u r AIR 1! So…. Pranav bhai halu ho ke dekh rahe the…. Jo samajh aya… mujhe bata diya…..aur mujhe aur bhi halu kar diya!! Kya karein bhai…..and… meanwhile sathe bhai peace mar rahe the…. Happy insaan!
Then, we decided to make the simulator and do some coding, in VB as said by NRK. But….. problems never end! We, little chaps having just one semester of experience in programming, were supposed to program an entire gigantic algorithm for a rubik’s cube, which was virtually impossible to implement even 50% of it manually!!
But…. Darne ki kya baat hai….. tempo jab saath hai!!!!
Now, I reached pune on 7th June, with just enough experience to solve the first layer of the cube. And, by that time, pranav had barely managed to solve the entire cube on his own. And, with this much experience… hum kuchh raahi… chal pade algorithm cracking ki raah par. Tab tak decide ho
Fir…. Arre bhai, load ana kabhi kam hota hai kya???? Tab tak sathe bhai hawa ho gaye! Dikh hi nahi rahe pune mein! Baad mein pata chala ki ghumne
Lekin… fir bhi….hausla banaye rakha humne! :-D
Then, we started on our first day…. Built the simulator by coding around 670 lines. And, it was working perfectly! We were too happy with our first achievement in this project.
Then….. there came day… when I was all alone at home.. With nothing to do! Coding was impossible alone! I had to just sleep around! Huha frust hua tha bhai!!!
Fir…. That frustapa had a solution. Sathe came back from his tour.
Fir… shuru hua ek naya karyakram. Roz subah pranav java classes se pehle mujhe sathe ke ghar pe drop kar deta tha…. Aur fir aate waqt le jata tha…. Jaise bache ko crèche mein daal deta ho… aur fir le jata ho! :-D
By that time….we had cracked the first layer. Then.. the second layer was somehow completed alongwith sathe. Then, the third layer was cracked at night the next day at pranav’s house. But, it took 2-3 days to increase the efficiency of the algorithm.
Everything was going perfectly……..fir achanak sathe ko brainwave…. Nahi……… brainTsunami aya ki use bhi java class join karna chahiye. Fir to main huhaa ulti masto fundooo frust ho
Ab kya karun??? I tried my best to convince sathe not to join the class…. But sathe to sathe raha… join kar hi liya…
Waise, meri kismet achhi thi ki tab tak coding ka kaam khatm tha. Aur, PARI ka mech design ka kaam poora nahi tha. So, we decided to meet NRK and find out the final solution to this problem. We met him on 12th evening…. Our first visit to the PARI campus. And, we were literally HALU at the campus…. After having a look at the big huha types machinery.
Till then, we had coded enough to show NRK the first two layers coded.
After waiting for abt half an hour, we met him…. And again………. NRK toh NRK thehra.. humari baatein thodi na suni usne! Woh to bhaiya…….hey bhagwaan! Kaise kahun!!! ….. woh to…. Humari kuchh na sun ke humein ulta funda dene laga mech design ka. Lekin, humne dhairya rakha…… funda suna uska… 75% funda kaan se filter hokar alag ho
When, we tried to show him our hardwork… he just appreciated our attitude that we have the confidence that this problem can be solved. That’s it! No appreciation for the hard work we had put in all these days.
We asked him if we could keep this project on hold for a few days, so that we could start work once pranav’s and sathe’s java classes are over. He agreed to that. Whew! Some relief at last!
So, I happily left for home…… but, by that time I discovered one algo, better known as speed cubing algorithm, by Lars Petrus, which took 30% less steps than the conventional layer-by-layer algo. So, we thought…. That when I come to pune for the second time, we can build up an entirely new code, based on the speed cubing algorithm. So, at home… fight maring on the speed cubing method continued.. and pranav and sathe were happily getting frust with their java classes! ( when I came to pune, I found this! ;-) )
Then…. I came back to pune on the 1st of july.
Now. Pranav bhai continues-----
Our algo was not 100% perfect…………beech me sala atkta tha kucch kucch cases pe!!!
After few Hrs of tiresome and Frustrating work we found out where the load was!!!..............second layer….ya Third layer……….or both!!.......ek toh cube solve karne ke liye our code was taking more than 150 steps……sumtimes it crossed the magic figures like 250!!! J………
So we Decided to say ‘Tata-ByeBye’ to this code and Start with new Speed Cubing algo!!!
Whoosh………actually this wasn’t much frustrating at first few moves as we were now familiar with the cube……………but as it went further………….Frustapa and Frustapa and Frustapa!!!! Nolthing Else…..
You can imagine wat our state wud be if we were supposed to handle 72 cases just for placing 3 Edges on the cube!!.............uff!!
But we handled the case with patience and intelligence!! Yes…….our coding for the 2*2*3 cube was ready and it was taking just 30-40 steps!!...wich was quite a big achievement for us!!
The whole day we were thinking of The cube , cube and Cube………..nothing else…..
And to add to our frustration beech beech me the code wich performed perfectly right a few hrs b4….started giving ERROR after few hrs!!!!!!!!’
That damn second layer was dreally a big Frustrating thing!!
We Worked Almost whole day on this second layer!!!.........We tried everything!!................
Amal found a Mathematical algo wich was really huha types!!!.........we programmed it with high tempo and waited for the result!!
But when we tried it on our simulator……………don ask the result!!!
Kucch Kucch Errors de raha tha sala!!............kucch ajib hi ho raha tha!!
Just too much for us to debug……………
Once again Amal thought a new Recursive Algo……and we decided to try dat one!!
We were used to errors………..main frust hoke lappy ka screen dekh raha tha…and Amal pressed “SOLVE” on the screen……………………..and suddenly……I saw the cube with its two Layers solved………The “ abe sala………….HUHA” sound broke the silence in the room!!!!!!!! Yes we have cracked the two layers with speed cubing…………....... There was nothing like that “machau feeling” at that time! J
Now we moved on to the Third layer………..which we thought to be very simple but in the end wich turned out the most difficult thing to deal with!!!
Now Amal will Continue-----
Hmm… the third layer. Was supposedly quite simple when we had done it last time with the layer by layer algo. Then, came a time when perfection is replaced by bare completion. This time, our task was to make this algo perfect! Humne pichhli baar jo program banaya tha sala kuchh kuchh cases mein seriously huha types error de raha tha! Humein to laga ki yahi agar submit kiya to NRK utha utha ke maarega. Fir..ab apne ko perfection lane ka tha. Isme, bhaiya perfection haasil karne ki koshish karo to load aana hi hai.
We directly used the previous function based on our older algorithm. But…. It gave errors still!!! And, the error was not a simple one. It made the program enter an infinite loop. We tried out the debugging. We didn’t find a single problem in the code. We still tried on for several hours………… in the end we found one case of the rubik’s cube which was quite tough to implement mathematically. We tried out all possible methods to solve it for the entire day, but, fruitlessly. I doubted whether it was mathematically possible to solve it. So, I constructed a software to find it out. And…. I found it mathematically impossible. Then… believe this or not….. apne pranav bhaiya ko tempo types aa
Ab…….. jahan tak program ka sawal hai….. program to bindas peacefully kaam kar raha tha. Humne bana liya yeh program, with an estimated 30% reduction in the no. of steps. Fir bhaiyaa…. Kaise kahein…. Har case solve kar raha tha yeh zalim program. Khushi ke leher man mein daudne lage…
Aisa feel hua jaise hum duniya ke be-taaj badhshaah ho gaye! :-D
Fir….. shaam huyi… pranav ne puchha “abe, yeh jo steps ka list nikalta hai, isko dobara laga ke dekhte hain, aakhir yeh solve karta hai ya nahi”
We tried that……………and again….. shattered dreams production ltd………… it wasn’t working!!!! L
What the hellll?????? The program was solving the rubik’s cube according to the simulator. But, the steps which it gave out couldn’t do that??? Is that a joke? I was deeply shocked!!! Pranav had similar feelings too. We started out debugging at around 5 pm. Now, just imagine…. Searching for this bug in a 5,500 line program………… which is literally HUGE!!! But, still we moved on. And, after 3 hrs of pain, we found out the bug! And woah, it was working after fixing the bug.!!! And then…. Suddenly pranav and I shouted out “yaayyyyyyy!!!” loud enough to be heard 5 houses away! Just imagine our happiness. And………. I rang up home to tell this achievement of ours! J
Then….. comes the peace maring time. We have completed the project. It has ended well. And, as the saying goes, All’s well that ends well. And, now the final presentation to Mr.Kulkarni. We have to show them the entire thing.
Lekin ,sawal fir se man mein aane lage. Humne kaafi complexities mein algorithms ko code kiya hai. 4 algos combine kar ke yeh banaya hai. Fir, poora algo chamakne mein humein ek mahine types lag
Sochna pada kaafi kuchh. Dimaag mein confusion jama raha. Fir, plan kiya ki sirf working dikhayenge, algo samjhana
Uske baad, humne final soch liya, thoda sa documentation le jaayenge, ki is software ka working kya hai, aur iska mechanical steps mein break down kaise hoga. Bas!!
Fir, who din aya, jab kulkarni ke saath meeting hua. PARI campus pohonche.
Kulkarni ne kaha ki woh ek senior software engineer ko bulaya hai, jisko explain karenge iska working etc.
Fir, meeting chala achha khaasa 1 hr ka. Jispe humein aascharya tha ki kulkarni ne itna time humein kaise de diya! Kaafi kuchh explanation hua, working dikhaya. Explain kar kar ke main aur pranav huha types frust ho gaye.
Now, comes the good part, kulkarni sahib ne kaha… “Great!!”
Woh “great!” humare dilon ko chhu
Humari mehnat rang laayi!
Humne kuchh kar dikhaya finally! J
yO!
Fir….. certi ki baat huyi, and he was ready to give a certi to us. But, stipend ki baat nahi ki L
Khair, jo bhi ho, 1st yr mein stipend expect bhi nahi kar raha tha! :-P
Anyways, us shaam ko camp area mein ghuma……aur raat ko train pakad ke hyd ke liye kat liya!
We became a happier team altogether!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
For all those who like travelling..........
How many of you have ever said that "I like travelling!!"??? Well, i would like to engage you in a debate. Don't mind buddy, i m writing this blog in a very frustrated mood!
So, here goes, today i write this blog on 7th may, 2008. And, seriously speaking, i have been travelling far and wide for the last 8 days, i.e. since 30th April. Firstly, as an intro, i would like to tell you that going home from college is sometimes damn hectic! especially when you are 1500 kms away, and the train takes more than 24hrs! i.e. kgp to hyd.
This time , my parents advised me to head for my paternal hometown, i.e. muzaffarpur, some 100 km north of patna. Now, therez no direct train from kgp. So, a break journey was the only option. So, decided to go from Calcutta. But, on the last day, i changed my plans, and had to go through Jamshedpur. On 30th April, I left kgp, for a short 2 hr journey alongwith another friend of mine, for jamshedpur. Then, in the evening we caught a train locally called the tata-chhapra express. Now, for your kind information, which i didn't know, it passes through the most infamous route of thieves! i.e. this route has the largest no. of theft records in the east. And, we had 2 laptops!!! the most easily targetted item! So, we planned not to sleep. We spent the entire night staying awake on a seemingly never-ending 14 hr journey! And, slept only once we reached home.
The very next day, we had to leave for my maternal uncle's house in patna. This was another nightmare. In this process, we had to cross the country's longest bridge spanning more than 4.5 km across the river Ganga. And, this bridge had a traffic jam which made us 6 hrs late!! We had to walk half the bridge carrying all the luggage.
The next day, we returned, and had another hectic journey of 3 hrs in a rather shaky government bus. By this time, i was exhausted by the journeys.
Then, fortunately, God blessed me and i had a day off!! No journey on one single day! yO! i was so happy!!!!
But, the next day we had to leave for home.
Now, I wonder if God was angry with me, or whatever, but there was no direct train again!! :((
So, had a break-journey through Calcutta.
And, journeying through 3 trains, changing at Calcutta and Vijayawada, i reached home after 48 hrs!!!
And woah! i am almost dried up! nothing left in me!
Thats all i wanted to say!! Thanx a lot for reading this much!! :)
So, here goes, today i write this blog on 7th may, 2008. And, seriously speaking, i have been travelling far and wide for the last 8 days, i.e. since 30th April. Firstly, as an intro, i would like to tell you that going home from college is sometimes damn hectic! especially when you are 1500 kms away, and the train takes more than 24hrs! i.e. kgp to hyd.
This time , my parents advised me to head for my paternal hometown, i.e. muzaffarpur, some 100 km north of patna. Now, therez no direct train from kgp. So, a break journey was the only option. So, decided to go from Calcutta. But, on the last day, i changed my plans, and had to go through Jamshedpur. On 30th April, I left kgp, for a short 2 hr journey alongwith another friend of mine, for jamshedpur. Then, in the evening we caught a train locally called the tata-chhapra express. Now, for your kind information, which i didn't know, it passes through the most infamous route of thieves! i.e. this route has the largest no. of theft records in the east. And, we had 2 laptops!!! the most easily targetted item! So, we planned not to sleep. We spent the entire night staying awake on a seemingly never-ending 14 hr journey! And, slept only once we reached home.
The very next day, we had to leave for my maternal uncle's house in patna. This was another nightmare. In this process, we had to cross the country's longest bridge spanning more than 4.5 km across the river Ganga. And, this bridge had a traffic jam which made us 6 hrs late!! We had to walk half the bridge carrying all the luggage.
The next day, we returned, and had another hectic journey of 3 hrs in a rather shaky government bus. By this time, i was exhausted by the journeys.
Then, fortunately, God blessed me and i had a day off!! No journey on one single day! yO! i was so happy!!!!
But, the next day we had to leave for home.
Now, I wonder if God was angry with me, or whatever, but there was no direct train again!! :((
So, had a break-journey through Calcutta.
And, journeying through 3 trains, changing at Calcutta and Vijayawada, i reached home after 48 hrs!!!
And woah! i am almost dried up! nothing left in me!
Thats all i wanted to say!! Thanx a lot for reading this much!! :)
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