NIT Rourkela students achieve second position in Team Roadrunner competition

Rourkela, Aug 26: National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela students has brought laurels in Team Roadrunner competition, a national level event- ‘SUPRA SAEINDIA Student Formula-2014’ organised at Madras Motor Sports Club in Chennai, informed RK Sinha, Secretary Public Relation of the institute today.

Team Roadrunner, a team of 25 students from various disciplines of engineering of the NIT, Rourkela, participating in the national level event had succeeded in achieving 2nd position among 100 teams across the country in engineering design category for which it bagged a cash prize of Rs 20,000 awarded by ANSYS INDIA along with a trophy.

“Our students fabricated a formula style racing car employing a Yamaha R6 600 cc engine imported from the USA. The entire assembly and manufacturing of the 360kg vehicle was done in the workshop of the institute,” said Sinha.

The SUPRA SAEINDIA is a competition which presents the under graduate and post graduate engineering students the task of designing, modelling and fabricating a formula type racing car. This event provides a real world engineering challenge that reflects the steps involved in the entire process from design and engineering to production, marketing and endurance.

The automobile has 4 cylinders, 600cc, 120 BHP Yamaha R6 engine generating a maximum torque of 66 Nm which had been imported from the USA. 

The vehicle has a top speed of 160 Kmph and can attain an acceleration of 100 Kmph in 6-7 seconds.

The vehicle sports a glass fiber body and is equipped with a real time data acquisition system and a GPS system. The fuel tank, exhaust system and the intake manifold are custom made enabling the manufacturing costs to come down drastically and making it a budget car.

Sinha further said the team NIT has also complete the endurance test and qualified for the race along with 12 other teams and stood among the top 6 teams to complete the race. Out of the 12 teams that passed the brake test, the team has done exceptionally well clearing it at a speed of 55 miles/hour in the first trial itself. The minimal noise and smoothness of the vehicle on the tracks received quality appreciation of the judges and made it stand out among the other participating vehicles, he added.

The team has also qualified for the first ever FORMULA STUDENT INDIA event to be organized in January 2015 where teams from China and Ukraine along with top teams from India are expected to participate and institute has committed to provide all types of backup support to the team to show case their talent and innovation skills of budding technocrats of the institute in the event, Sinha said.