(Unila): In mid-July 2023, the clear skies around the Sea Paradise Hakkeijima area in Yokohama, Japan, witnessed the successful flight and landing of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the fixed-wing electric motor type, owned by the Unila research team for robotics and automation (URO).
After covering a journey of approximately 32 km across the open sea without interruption, the URO Unila drone successfully completed the mission presented at the International Federation of Automatic Control World Drone Competition 2023 (IFAC WDC 2023), a global-level competition held from June 11-13, 2023.
The moment of landing seconds was recorded by one of the members ‘ cameras. At that time, from a distance the white drone was seen getting closer to the landing point. The team members seemed to be preparing, staying focused, and calm, while waiting and documenting the landing of the probe.
Gratitude then enveloped the team as the drone landed perfectly. Three members deftly approached the drone, while others reminded to immediately do a checklist. The record flying mission time of the URO Unila team was recorded at 35 minutes, delivering them the Second World Champion position in the IFACWorld Drone Competition2023.
The proud team behind this achievement includes Ardian Ulvan (chief of the mission, flight controller and data analytics), Melvi (LTE-based wireless telemetry and video streaming), Mona Arif Muda Batubara (airframe structure and aerodynamics), M. Rafif Musyaffa (a pilot and autonomous system), Yusuf Rizki Sulardi Akbar (a flight engineer and launcher system), Dwikashinta Purwanda Putra (a ground control station and image processing), and Aris Susilo (Student –and Aris Susilo (a technician – mission planner and data processing.
The success of achieving the second place in the competition is acknowledged as an extraordinary pride for the URO Unila team, after competing with 13 other teams from different countries.
IFAC WDC 2023 is an open competition that brings together the world’s most advanced UAV systems, propulsion systems, control systems, communication systems, Ground Control Station systems, and integrated technologies, as well as advanced technologies for disaster response and emergency goods transportation use cases.
This competition was part of the IFAC World Congress 2023 held in Yokohama, Japan, and was specifically sponsored by IFAC WC 2023 and the Advanced Robotic Foundation (ARF). When interviewed by the Unila Public Relations team, Ardian explained that the URO Unila team faced strong competitors from the international drone industry and several universities.
The competition with the theme “Long-distance flights by unmanned aerial vehicle for disaster responses and logistics,” required each team to complete two missions. The first mission refers to a rapid monitoring mission when disasters occur, followed by mapping and monitoring of refugee areas, and the second mission is to drop medicines in refugee areas.
The URO Unila team has participated in similar competitions at the national levels, but international level competition turned out to have different challenges. In addition to establishing numerous technologically strong drone industries and more sophisticated specifications, the terrain of the aviation arena is also a challenge for the URO Unila team.
Ardian admitted that the URO Unila team was still not familiar with the arena field during completing the mission. It was the first time for the drone to cross the ocean round-trip along the 16 km, where natural factors became the biggest challenge for the flight rate of the rides.
The URO team was optimistic of achieving the best results in this competition due to their high confidence and mental attitudes. At the national level, Unila is one of the leading universities in the development of small medium drone technology intended to identify disasters.
The development of URO Unila’s research regarding the use of robotics and automation has been done for a very long time. Initially, the research particularly focused on the development of the ground robots and then developed to create drone technology for disaster and precision agriculture, especially in Lampung.
The URO Unila has done downstream by selling drone products and also has provided functional services. This downstream process is carried out in collaboration with startups founded by FT Unila Alumni. The URO Unila team provides an opportunity to work with investors as the technology the team developed has met the level 8-9 for technology readiness level (TKT) document.
This indicates that the products are ready for industrialization. Unila is expected to provide better support and attention for the outstanding achievements and opportunities of this research, as well as the development of large drone technology at Unila which in turn will improve better performance in terms of IKU. [PR Team]
