(Unila): The energy-efficient car team of the University of Lampung (Unila), Moran Team, managed to make a proud achievement in an international competition, the Shell Eco Marathon Asia 2019, which took place at Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia, April 28-May 2 2019.
Mobil Moran Team, which took the Urban Concept class with gasoline fuel, was able to reduce fuel efficiency of 119 kilometers per liter and was ranked 9th in Asia out of 102 participants.
Martinus, the supervisor, said that the Moran Team was formed in 2015, which began with the awareness of the students because of the increasingly expensive and scarce fuel oil.
“This means that there must be a solution for energy-efficient vehicles or by using the latest energy. Since then we have begun planning to make a variety of vehicle prototypes, including electric vehicles, diesel and gasoline,” he said on Wednesday (08/05/2019).
After making the energy-efficient car, the car was then brought into a race called the Energy-Saving Car Contest (KMHE) at national level. “From the national competition, we arrived at the 2019 Shell Eco Marathon Asia competition in Malaysia.
We brought along an urban gasoline prototype, worth Rp. 30 million. Basically, it is an energy-saving competition, the participants are from various countries in Asia,” he explained.
In the competition, the committee provides circuits provided that each competing car has a speed limit of at least 30 kilometers per hour. If the speed is lower, the team will be disqualified.
“Then from this lab standard we spend how much fuel we estimate. The tank we also buy from them, the capacity is only 100 milliliters, then it is filled with gasoline and what is the end of the competition,” he said.
To go through a distance of about 10 kilometers, Moran Team only consumes 85 milliliters of gasoline. That is, only with 1 liter of gasoline, the car can travel a distance of up to 120 kilometers.
“There are 26 cars that take part in the joint competition. What is interesting is that not all cars can join the race. Because, previously there was technical inspection (IT) to make sure the vehicle was safe and could run,” he explained.
In the TI, every car was checked in detail, such as the state of brake functions, dimensions of the car, electricity, and so on.
“So not all vehicles could pass the initial examination, our team could because everything was made by themselves. So, we could understand if there was a problem, we could solve it quickly,” added the bespectacled man.
The first winner was from the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology (ITS) team, while Unila won the 9th place. The competition was also divided into several categories, namely Proto ICE (Internal Combustion Engine), Proto Electric, and Proto Hydrogen, then Urban ICE, Urban Electricity, and Urban Hydrogen.
“We are in the Urban ICE category, so our competitors are not only gasoline, but there are diesel and ethanol. This is a university basis, so each campus can send more than one vehicle. But certainly, it costs a lot,” he explained.
At least, there were several Indonesian universities that also participated, such as University of Indonesia, Bandung Institute of Technology, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, University of Lampung, Brawijaya University Malang, Diponegoro University Semarang, Jakarta State University, University of North Sumatra, Medan Technology Institute, University Syiah Kuala Banda Aceh, Bandung State Manufacturing Polytechnic, Bina Nusantara University, Muhammadiyah University of Malang, and National Development University ‘Veteran’ Jakarta.
As a supervisor, Martinus hoped that the Moran Team could get 1st place in the next competition. “Because one of our obstacles is the research fund for development. Unila is very lagging even though we can capitalize on the results,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Moran Team, Rifqi Rahma Andrianto, said that the team had experienced several obstacles before leaving for the neighboring country.
“The most important thing was how my team survived there (Malaysia). Second, we strove for the best results. If a team member had been stubborn, we would have admonished him/her. We could talk each other because we fought in one competition,” he said.
In the competition yesterday, his team targeted to be able to become one of top 15. But what’s the power, God wills another, but the Moran Team could still fall into the top 10 in Asia. “Thank God that is true, if we looked back at our competitors, I could say we were extraordinary,” he explained.
He hopes that the team will regain their sense of belonging because the Moran Team has now fought in an international competition.
“Hopefully, from the top 9, all friends have the same target to fall into Top 3. For the campus, the bureaucracy should have not been too complicated. Give us something in the form of research funds,” he hoped.[Unila in Media]
News Source: https://kumparan.com/lampunggeh/mobil-hemat-energi-unila-raih-juara-9-di-tingkat-asia-1r2YX54bSsJ
