UNAIR NEWS – Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) sent students as delegates to an energy-efficient car competition held by Shell. Shell is a British multinational oil and gas company. This competition took place on July 4-9, 2023 at the Mandalika International Circuit, Lombok.

The team called Rasena UNAIR EV Team consists of Beno Abriyan Syah, Rizky Agung Perdana, Andini Dwi Kartika P, Dede Syahputra, Yuriz Fadil Wardana, Jonathan Deven, Adnan Purnama Putra, Fahreza Ismayana, Gilbert Samuel Frederic H, Venny Aminda Tazayul, Fisco Muhammad Firdaus, Thoriq Hady Benson, and Haydar Yahya Alzahroni S and supervisor Dr. Agus Mukhlisin ST MT.

First faculty delegates in competition

Being the first delegates from a new faculty, they have various obstacles in a competition. Beno as the general manager , and his colleagues do not have seniors at the faculty, which could give an insight or evaluation from the previous competition. However, this team remains competitive and strives to make their alma mater proud. 

“We feel very happy to take part in this competition. Because it’s the first time for us to participate in this competition, so to pass in the first stage or the technical inspection is an achievement and an honor for a few months of hard work,” said Beno.

The competition is the most efficient car competition. Each team has to race their car in several round laps to prove it. Furthermore, car feasibility and safety must be ensured before the race. 

Therefore, a technical and safety inspection must be carried out, and if the car passes the verification, a sticker will be given as a sign of permission to race.

Go through stages of selection

In this competition, there were three stages that the Rasena team had to go through. The first is team registration, team name, car name, design, and material. Then the second phase is making the car, its electrical and mechanical documents. And the third is the shipping and the team’s departure to the competition venue on the circuit.

“During the registration process, we must also send materials for the car we are designing. Then the driving fuel specifically, and others. Then, we will proceed to the most thrilling stage, the race,” he continued.

Rasena Team faces various obstacles 

Even though he had prepared everything thoroughly, Rasena still encountered internal and external obstacles. Beno said that during the due diligence and safety tests, they were constrained by unsuitable tire parts, so they had to find and replace tires in a short time.

“At that time, it often rained in Mandalika, and because we used racing tires, we replaced them so that there was no slippage which prevented our team from racing. So we have to buy and replace the four tires to qualify,” explained Beno.

The second obstacle occurred in the car’s wipers which did not wipe the water off the glass. Apart from that, their safety seat belts did not have adjustments, so they had to find the parts around Lombok.

“At that time, the committee also asked for an adjustment, so we bought an ordinary safety seat belt and then applying it to the seat belt,” he said.

Even during the race, this team also experienced problems with the transmission and controller. During racing, their car overheats, and the system shuts down, so it has to be towed to be repaired.

Enthusiasm to join competition

Despite the result, the car designed by the Rasena team is a great start for the learning and development of the next delegates. For the competition, they designed and conceptualized the car from scratch.

“All manufacturing processes are started from scratch by students without involving any assistance. For example, we make the controller ourselves, starting from the body, engine, electrical system, and others,” he explained. 

So hopefully, through the competition experience, Rasena’s team can evaluate all the obstacles that hinder their team. And, they will send this car back in a more proper condition at the next race.

“We learned a lot from this competition and will evaluate this car optimally. For example, we will replace the tires with the previous tires and optimize the controller. Then we will make a new car body by evaluating the previous body so that it remains an energy-efficient car,” he concluded.

Author: Monika Astria Br Gultom

Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia