Robots ITB “Zarqun” and “ASA” Champion in America

ITB robots, Zarqun and ASA won first and second place in the Trinity Fire Fighting Robot Contest 2011 held in Connecticut, United States, April 9-10, 2011. The ITB Robot Team consisting of Syawaludin Rachmatullah, Samratul Fuady and Ashlih Dameitry are Electrical Engineering students of STEI ITB.

Zarqun, ITB's flagship robot, won first place in the Senior Legged Robot class. This was a very satisfying achievement, having finished fourth in the same competition the previous year.

Zarqun is a type of fire-fighting robot equipped with various fire-detecting sensors. Weighing 3 kilograms and standing approximately 30 centimeters tall, Zarqun is an intelligent, legged robot designed to help humans.

"We've been designing this robot since 2008. When we first entered the national contest in 2009, we won. After that, we refined the robot. Unfortunately, during the 2010 competition in the United States, we miscalculated and only managed to finish fourth. This time, we have to do better because we have previous experience," said Syawaludin.

Finally, after the Zarqun robot was perfected, the ITB Team, accompanied by Dr. Kusprasapta Mutijarsa and manager Dody Suhendra, managed to achieve a proud achievement. The experience of participating in an international robot contest last year also seemed to be a weapon in itself to make improvements to their Zarqun robot. Although the sophisticated components in this Zarqun are still imported, the body and other devices are the result of assembly by the team. This Zarqun relies on ultrasonic sensors to explore the room and infrared sensors to detect fire. Becoming champions in the international contest is an immense pride for the ASA team with the Zarqun robot that has been developed since 2008.