(from left) The Spektronics NG sub-team consists of Abdul Quddus Al Kahfi and Bernardus Krisna Brata, and the N1 Spektronics sub-team consisting of Wahyu Febianto and M Rafli Revansyah

ITS Campus, ITS News – The Spektronics team, the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh November (ITS) pride, has again gained international-scale achievements. At the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) Chemical-E-Car Presentation Competition, the Spektronics team, and two sophisticated cars won second and fourth place in an online announcement on Saturday (23/10).

Having previously won the Runner Up position in Germany some time ago, winning the competition in Malaysia became the sixth victory for the Spektronics team in 2021. This is a very proud achievement for the Spektronics team and ITS itself in general.

The IEM Chem E-Car competition is a prototype car competition organized by IEM with University College Sedaya International (UCSI), Malaysia. In this event, various teams competed to create an innovative prototype of an autonomous car based on chemical reactions that could stop itself at a predetermined distance, and there was a challenge in the form of the vehicle having to be able to kick the ball into the goal and drop the pinball.

The two Spektronics sub-teams, N1 and NG, are preparing to take part in the online judging at the IEM 2021

In this international match, the Spektronics team sent their two flagship sub-teams. The first sub-team is Spektronics N1, chaired by Wahyu Febianto (Department of Electrical Engineering, 2020) and consists of M Rafli Revansyah (Department of Chemical Engineering, 2020). This team is managed by Naning Retno Astuti (Department of Chemical Engineering, 2019) and guided by Prof. Setiyo Gunawan ST Ph.D.

Wahyu said that because it was held online, the competition, which took place from October 13 to 23, was technically transferred to a video presentation accompanied by an animation of a prototype car and ended with a quiz session and questions. Competing with 27 other teams, Spektronics N1 has a vehicle with a different and straightforward theme. Superficial refers to how the motion system works and additional guides to the only team that uses turbine rotation to move the wheels.

Spektronics N1 has an innovation in the turbine model, namely, making a 3D Pelton water turbine in collaboration with Tridiku Surabaya. “Then, we use the idler gear to change the direction of rotation of the gear on the rotary pusher, so the wheel and the rotary pusher have different directions of rotation,” he introduced.

Wahyu said that N1 uses a high concentration reaction to produce oxygen but is still in a safe range to create high pressure to answer the challenge. The high-pressure gas will push the water in the water vessel, which when the water vessel is impervious to being caused by air, the water will come out to the turbine.

The turbine applied to the wheels is 2:5 (2 times the turbine rotates, the wheel turns five times), and the turbine to idler gear ratio is 2:17. So since the balance between the turbine, rotation, and rotary pusher is 2:5:17, the faster the turbine spins, the faster the car will run. On the other hand, the quicker the rotary pusher rotates. “Because the rotation of the rotary pusher is fast, the ball will be kicked vigorously by the rotary pusher. This is also an advantage of the N1,” he said proudly.

The prototype design of the Spektronics N1 sub-team car being contested at the IEM 2021

Apart from Spektronics N1, which won second place, the Spektronics NG sub-team managed to bring home fourth place. Spektronics NG proposed a prototype car powered by electricity from a thermoelectric generator and an autonomous system using hydraulics so that the vehicle can stop itself at a specified distance.

Chaired by Bernardus Krisna Brata (Department of Chemical Engineering, 2020), this second sub-team consists of Abdul Quddus Al Kahfi (Department of Chemical Engineering, 2020), with Team Manager by Rahardian Mahendra Daniswara (Department of Materials Engineering, 2019) and Juwari ST MEng Ph.D. as advisors.

The prototype design of the Spektronics NG sub-team car presented at the 2021 IEM judging

The student, who is familiarly called Bernard, explained that the NG car works by reacting to the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide on the hot and cold sides using crushed ice. “With the difference in temperature, it can create electricity, and the electricity will move the dynamo which causes the car to run,” said the young man born in 2002.

The difference between the two cars from the N1 and the NG itself is the car system. Bernard revealed, NG brought a car powered by a Thermoelectric Generator that took advantage of the heat difference, while Spektronics N1 brought a pressure-powered car (Pressurized Car). “The autonomous systems of the two cars are also different, where the Spektronics NG uses a hydraulic system while the Spektronics N1 uses the pressure calculation in the reactor,” he explained.

The Spektronics N1 sub-team was announced as the second winner at the IEM 2021

He said that this car is quite good because the way it works is straightforward for many people to understand, but one thing needs to be considered, namely its weight. “The weight on this car is a task that must be evaluated so that in the future, we can use less power,” he said.

In the end, Bernard hopes that the Spektronics ITS team will achieve the best results in the upcoming competitions and develop the innovations found to maturity. He also hopes that many outside parties will support him so that the team can carve a good name for his beloved alma mater and the Indonesian nation in the international arena.

The Spektronics NG sub-team was announced as the fourth winner at the IEM 2021

“Just like in this competition, thank you for being supported by many parties such as Air Products, PT. PJB, Altekimits, and other sponsors who contributed to our victory,” concluded the student from Tangerang. (ITS Public Relation)

Reporter: Fatima Az Zahra