Day 1 (9th October, 2014):

We reached the college early in the morning itself as we had a little more of the welding work left. The competitions were divided into Static and Dynamic Events. The teams which cleared the Static events were given with a Tech OK sticker and were only then allowed for the Dynamic events.
The first event was the Figure of 8 test where we were asked to completed an “8” track. The test checked how good our left and right steer was. Balachander and Nandakumar (3rd year Mechanical) were the drivers for our vehicle. The Figure of 8 test was a very crucial test as we would not be allotted with the Tech OK sticker if we didn’t pass the preliminary checks. Unfortunately, the main problem that we faced during our test was drive was the steering.

Balachander and Nadakumar

We were instructed by the volunteers not to cross the white lines and not to knock over any of the cones as this will lead to penalty and disqualification. We were also asked not to stop the vehicle in between the runtime. Both of the drivers were very careful to ride the vehicle along the track. And much to our surprise, the vehicle which we could never get to steer within the limits performed well and we completed the track. It was solely the talent of the Balachander and Nandakumar which helped us to clear the round. One of the evaluators asked us whether we were confident enough to operate the vehicle in Electric mode and complete the track. I wasn’t really sure far it was possible but Balachander assured us that he can do. The evaluator sat along with him and asked to switch to Electric mode. We needed an initial push for the starting torque and maneuvered the track easily. Seemed like the steering finally came under our command…!!

It was getting late in the evening and we hurried for the Safety test. The safety check ensured that our vehicle was safe for the competitions. They checked whether our vehicle was fabricated according to the rulebook and ensured that our kill switch was functional. They noted a few changes that we were supposed to make and gave us time to make those changes. 7 of the team members spent the whole night making the changes and tuning our vehicle for the next day competitions. The rest of us returned a little earlier to our hotel as we had to charge the batteries.

Aby Thannikal Joseph
B.E. Mechatronics Engineering
Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology (2011 - 2015 Batch)