The Indonesian Consul General in Houston, Yana Yuliana (center) and the ITS Barunastra Team were in between preparations for the competition

ITS Campus, ITS News – In the midst of preparing to compete at the International Roboboat Competition (IRC) 2019, the Barunastra Team of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) received an honorary visit from the Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in Houston, United States, Nana Yuliana, Tuesday ( 6/18) afternoon local time. The visit was a form of government support to a team from Indonesia because it helped bring the nation’s name to life.

ITS Barunastra Team Official Leader Sabilah Margirizki explained that in this annual international competition, as a representative from Indonesia besides the ITS team, there were also Artekia Teams from the University of Indonesia (UI) and AMV Teams from Diponegoro University (Undip). The two teams also received a visit from the Indonesian Consul General in Houston.

In addition to chatting about the race, Yana also advised not to get ‘stuck’ only in the competition this robot ship research. It should be developed in collaboration with other research. “It would be even better if cooperation comes from various universities that joined in the competition competitively,” said Sabilah conveying the message of Yana Yuliana when contacted through an online conversation on Wednesday (6/19) afternoon.

Sabilah also explained that the Indonesian Consulate General in Houston also provided a little financial assistance to the ITS Barunastra Team. “The funds will later be used to help with accommodation or consumption costs during the race,” said the Statistics Department student.

Sabilah, who is a 2016 student, also said she was happy with the visit. Because this is also a form of real support to the team to be more enthusiastic about competing. “In addition, of course, we will be more motivated to become champions later,” said this hijab girl.

In this IRC 2019, participants were required to design an autonomous robot boat to navigate and race through the given water obstacle course. The behavior shown by this boat mimics the tasks being developed for coastal supervision, port security, and other types of oceanographic operations.

Assessments of the participants have been carried out starting from the time of initial tests and inspections since last June 17. The qualification stage to determine entry into the final will only be held on June 22 local time. For later assessment of qualifications, the ship will carry out missions given by the committee and will be calculated based on points. Then in terms of presentation, the ship also goes into the assessment and determines the position in the final later. (sof/herdiana/ITS PR)