MALACCA: University Technical Malaysia (UTeM) did the country proud when it brought home several gold medals from the British Invention Show 2008 (BIS) in Hertfordshire, Britain, recently.
Several teams representing the university won one double-gold, three gold and one silver medal in the international competition from Oct 15 to 18.
Among the winners were the university’s Electrical Engineering Faculty which came out tops for its computerised wireless helicopter control system.
“The win was a surprise for us, and we were the last to be announced. I had packed up and was getting ready to leave,” said Alias Khamis, who represented his team.
The team’s research project required it to design and implement a PC-based remote control system for a model helicopter capable of aerial surveillance across 60m to 4km, depending on the size of the helicopter.
The helicopter’s control was designed with Visual Basic software and using a Graphic User Interface linked to a wireless camera attached to the helicopter’s body.
“I was happy and immediately called my team mates in Malaysia to tell them the good news.
“Being at the show was great but winning the competition was a bonus,” he added.
Alias, a 29-year-old lecturer who holds a Masters Degree in electrical engineering, said he gained invaluable experience at the show and made friends who shared the same interest.
He said he and his team mates initiated the project from scratch about a year ago.
“It was good exposure and a learning experience for us in technical know-how and conceptual proficiency. We took on a trial-and-error approach before we succeeded,” he added.
Present at victory celebrations at the university in Ayer Keroh were his team mates Hyreil Anuar Kasdirin, Muhammad Herman Jamaluddin, Ahmad Zaki Shukor, Hairul Mizam Mohd Shah and Norsarizan Mat Youb.
He said the win proved that humans and machines could interact with the use of computers from a distance.
“Our application can be used for safety and monitoring or research on other intelligent-control and embedded-control systems,” he said, adding that the team was looking at integrating its design with a global positioning system.
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