Jakarta, IO – Presenting the latest version of the Spektronics 23 car, a team of students from the November 10 Institute of Technology (ITS) in Surabaya won the second place at the Chem E-Car Global Race automobile design competition in Florida, US, on Sunday (5/11).
They students are Bimo Bintang Aulia, Dheas Pinda Prayoga, Wiji Dharma Aditiya, and Achmad Fadjar Maulana Firdaus. Leader of the ITS Spectronics Team, Bimo, said his campus was the one and only representative university from Indonesia.
In the final round, 46 teams qualified. ITS team even managed to beat teams from the world’s top campuses such as Toronto University and Tsinghua University in this prestigious event.
Bimo said his team brought the latest version of the Spektronics 23 car which utilizes air pressure reactions to produce power. “Then this air pressure is distributed through a pneumatic system which makes it a powerful drivetrain,” he said.
This car is also equipped with a solenoid valve feature which can be controlled automatically using an Arduino nano. That way, the car can move with high accuracy.
“This technology increases efficiency by up to 50 percent from our previous model,” explained Bimo
Testing in competition requires the car to move within 25 meters. The challenge aims to assess the quality of students’ cars and test the chemicals that drive the cars. “Our team’s error was 0.112 meters, only 0.05 meters behind the team from Auburn University, US, which came first,” he said.
Bimo admitted that his team did not encounter many obstacles during the competition. Even though there was a problem sending cars via plane, it could be resolved by the team at the competition venue.
Chem E-Car is a car design competition using chemical reactions. In this student competition, participants create a prototype car that can be driven by chemical reactions over a specified distance while carrying a load.
Chem E-Car is organized by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). This event is a prestigious championship in the world because it is attended by campuses from various countries.
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In Chem E-Car, participants have to go through several rigorous and demanding selection stages, starting from regional selection and onward to the final round in Florida.
In the final round, each team must take part in a safety and inspection session the day before the race takes place. This is done to test the car’s suitability and optimal performance.
“This victory is a good step for us to continue bringing pride to ITS in various subsequent international competitions,” said Bimo. (rr)