Karnataka   

The maniacs and their machine

— Photo: R. Eswarraj

INGENUITY: Students of NITK giving finishing touches to the ‘Dune Buggy’ on the college campus in Surathkal, near Mangalore, on Saturday.

SURATHKAL: Imagine being stuck on a highway in the middle of the night because the vehicle you are travelling by refuses to start. Most people would not know if the problem is with the engine or the electrical circuit. The solution could be as simple as cleaning a spark-plug or simply letting the engine cool down. But most people would not know.

The boys, who call themselves “Junkyard maniacs”, are not like most people. After all the hours of labour they have put into building an “All Terrain Dune Buggy”, they are not going to wait for a mechanic if they are stuck with a vehicle.

Junkyard maniacs are a 15-member team of students from National Institute of Technology-Karnataka, Surathkal, who have entered their machine into the “BAJA Society of Automotive Engineers INDIA 2007”, a national-level automobile design competition. As many as 27 teams have been selected from all over the country to take part in this competition which will be held at Pithampur near Indore between December 21 and 23. The challenge for the teams is to build a rugged, single seat, off-road, four-wheel- vehicle, for a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh. The dune buggy built by the students got out of the workshop and had its first taste of hard tarmac on Saturday. It is not a formula-car in terms of speed, nor does it have the kind of sophisticated machinery that has made the Mercedes and the BMWs world famous. Its novelty lies in the fact that it has been built by a team of teenage, college-going scientists, who have limited means and an unlimited list of other things to do simultaneously. Its allure lies in the fact that it is still an untamed horse. Travelling at a maximum speed of 50 kmph, the dune buggy is not a hair raising experience but doing that with a machine that is still in its infancy is not for the faint hearted. As Rupak Laskar takes the test drive on the machine, rest of the team looks anxiously on. Meanwhile, one of the team members says: “To be honest, at this point of time, a lot of things can go wrong. There is a remote possibility that the vehicle may blow up”. Within a few tense seconds, the first run is over and there seems to be a problem with the reverse gear. “That can be sorted out,” Rupak says, as he goes on a second run and the buggy manages to take quite a few bumps which they say, “encouraging”.

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