Jatayujet_10 flight test, the flagship drone of ITS Bayucaraka Team from the Racing Plane division competing at KRTI 2020

ITS Campus, ITS News – Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) has again proven its superiority in the field of robotics. Unmitigated, ITS succeeded in bringing home the General Champion title at the 2020 Indonesian Flying Robot Contest (KRTI) organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture’s National Achievement Center in collaboration with Universitas Lampung (Unila), on 23 – 31 October 2020.

Heri Suryoatmojo ST MT Ph.D., the supervisor of the ITS KRTI Team, said that four divisions were followed by the ITS team. Namely the Racing Plane (RP), Fixed Wing (FW), Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL), and Technology Development (TD) divisions. The TD division has three subdivisions, namely TD Propulsion System, TD Air Frame Innovation, and the TD Flight Controller.

In the Racing Plane division, the flying robot Jatayujet_10, the mainstay of the Bayucaraka Team, won second place. Unlike previous years, the implementation of Racing Plane was carried out online. Participants are given the freedom to carry out flight tests and take as much data as possible to send to the jury, along with a video of taking off the plane. “In three minutes you have to produce the most laps. We managed to complete seven rounds, narrowly defeated by ITB that was eight rounds,” he said.

According to Heri, ITS could get better results. However, during the test, the wind blew from the side of the runway at a speed fast enough that the plane could not pass with precision. “Next year, if the competition is still the same, we will improve our strategy to get a good lap by adjusting the aircraft route and considering the wind direction,” he said.

Meanwhile, in this year’s contest, the VTOL division succeeded in increasing its title to first place, after at KRTI 2019 it had to settle for third place. The Soeromiber team, which is the name of the division team, must compete to place the load using the drone at three points determined by a guide in the form of a QR Code. The points are determined randomly by lottery. The match was held directly through the Zoom Meeting.

The Bayusuta Team from the Technology Development Division prepares to compete in KRTI 2020

Competitions are made more difficult because they are held indoors, so the Global Positioning System (GPS) cannot be used. However, the Soeromiber team was able to win all matches in each round consistently. It doesn’t stop there, this team is the only team that can complete the mission in full with the fastest record time of 50 seconds. Leaving its competitors by a large margin.

The Bayusuta team, which is the name of the TD division team, continued Heri, won the title in each competition subdivision. Like the previous year, this time the Bayusuta Team won first place in TD Air Frame Innovation. With a hybrid airplane made from balsa and plywood that can take off and land vertically, the Bayusuta team managed to make a good presentation and demo perfectly.

Not only that, but the Bayusuta team also managed to get the first runner-up in the TD Flight Controller. In this category, the team had to build a drone that could be controlled simultaneously and independently. Meanwhile, similar gains were also obtained in the TD Propulsion System subdivision. Never being followed before, the team brought the innovation of a propeller made from coconut fibers. “This year I just joined and managed to get one hope,” admitted Heri.

In the Fixed Wing division, the Anaryadirga team had to settle for only being able to complete the mission. The aircraft made by this team had to fly as far as five kilometers to carry out aerial mapping and monitoring and were observed directly by the jury through the Zoom Meeting. Besides, the aircraft in this division must drop a load of half a kilogram at predetermined coordinate points. “So we can see how many meters the accuracy is, how many errors are from the predetermined coordinate points,” explained Heri.

Trial of the Bayusuta Team from the ITS Bayucaraka Technology Development division who competed at KRTI 2020

Heri assessed that the Anaryadirga team was not 100 percent ready because of the large number of tasks that had to be done. Besides, he revealed that there was an error in interpreting the order from the jury. The mapping of this division is still poor because the team spent time developing the rides. “The important thing is to carry out the correct mapping and monitoring by aerial mapping science. That’s a big mistake,” he said.

Asked about other obstacles, according to Heri, the most important obstacle was the pandemic. Due to the pandemic, team members who could gather at the ITS Robotics Center Building were limited because they had to follow existing protocols. Besides, many team members cannot come to Surabaya because of parental consent. “Like the Air Frame. That was the demo in Depok and the presentation in Surabaya,” said Heri.

However, Heri was quite satisfied with the acquisition of the ITS team at KRTI 2020. Because for the first time, ITS was able to win the General Champion title which was previously held by other campuses. According to him, this is the culmination of extraordinary achievement for the ITS flying robot team. “In the future, we must be able to maintain, be more enthusiastic, and be more innovative to develop ideas and strategies that we have to do. Frankly speaking, maintaining it is more difficult than fighting over it,” concluded Heri. (dya/ITS Public Relations)