89 Model TOFAŞ Sparrow Transformed into a Fully Autonomous Car

Turkey’s aerospace and technology TEKNOFEST”Robotaksi-Passenger Autonomous Vehicle Competition” has started as of today. Teams developing autonomous vehicles from various parts of the country are promoting the vehicles they have developed in Informatics Valley. In this context, one of the teams participating in the competition is from Bülent Ecevit University “Black DiamondIt was a team.

The Karaelmas team led by Berat Cansız delivered the 1989 model Sparrow. 15 thousand TL It was able to make it fully autonomous at a reasonable cost. If the team, which has participated in the competition before, successfully completes the tracks that will be presented to them with the Serçe, which it has made completely autonomous, and can be the first, 75 thousand TL reward will own it.

Here is the fully autonomous Sparrow

Black Diamond Team Leader who made statements on the subject Berat Cansiz, made the following statements about the autonomously working Sparrow:

Our team has been participating in the competition for 3 years. For the last 2 years, we have reached the finals in the Robotaksi competition. We came third in Turkey last year. This year, we aim to get a rank in the top 3 again. We built our car using a scrap Sparrow body. We saw a modified 1989 Sparrow on the internet before. ‘Why shouldn’t we participate in this way too?’ we asked ourselves. This is how we decided to participate in the competition with this vehicle. Name of the competition robotaxis We thought that the design would be very suitable for this concept. After that, the process of finding the vehicle from the junkyard and bringing it to this stage began. After a good research, from the junkyard 3 thousand TL In return, we bought this vehicle in navy blue color. Then we made some improvements in the industry. We painted the vehicle yellow to make it suitable for Robotaksi. After that, we installed the electronic system on our vehicle. our own design we have an electronic card. We did it in a completely original way. Later, our programmer friends carried out some tests and studies on the tool. They uploaded their own software to the vehicle. This was done in a completely original way.

All modifications made on the vehicle, except for the scrap, are ours. our original work it happened. The very positive reactions here have also been very good for us. We spent months in the industry trying to adapt the vehicle to the competition concept. First, we separated the steering wheel of the vehicle. Then we dismantled the engine and transmission in the vehicle. Because it was going to be an electric project. Since we will not be using the internal combustion engine on the vehicle, we did not want it to add weight. We completely disassembled all systems. We connected an electric motor to the ready steering box on the vehicle. We created an electronic rotation mechanism by measuring this at certain stages. We then welded electric hub motors in there by gouging out our rear 13-inch wheels. This is in the processes of turning, welding and testing. took up to 3 weeks. As a team, we have made a great effort to ensure that a 1989 classic vehicle can drive autonomously, driverless, currently in 2021.