Bandung, itb.ac.id – Two students from the Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (FTMD) at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Jeffrey Sirait from the Aerospace Engineering Study Program (Class of 2022) and Manggora Zerah Kristina Simanjuntak from the Materials Engineering Study Program (Class of 2022), have successfully won a Gold Medal and the Best International Team award at the Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Competition (SAFMC) 2026 in Singapore.

Competing in the prestigious international UAV technology event under the team’s name BUCINPRO, the duo entered the “Man-Machine” category completely independent of external funding and without the initial knowledge of an academic supervisor. This milestone achievement was built upon an innovation adapted from Jeffrey’s undergraduate final project, titled “Development of a Wearable Drone Controller.”

SAFMC is a renowned annual international UAV technology competition that draws various global institutions and academic teams. In this arena, participants are challenged to present unmanned flight system innovations that demonstrate outstanding operational performance, creativity, and real-time technological integration directly in the field.

Unlike the majority of competing teams who relied on conventional remote controllers paired with bulky peripheral devices, Team BUCINPRO stood out as the sole competitor utilizing a glove as their primary drone controller. This innovation leverages an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor capable of reading the pilot’s palm movements in real-time.

The movement data captured by the sensor is processed by a microcontroller alongside inputs from several supporting buttons that mirror the essential functions of a standard remote. This data is then sent via a transmitter mounted on the glove to communicate directly with the aircraft. Through this seamless integration, the drone can be navigated more intuitively through the user’s hand gestures alone.

According to Jeffrey Sirait, the development of this system did not merely focus on the physical form of the glove, but on the overall fidelity and responsiveness of the control loop. He deliberately chose an international competition as a means to stress-test the performance of his final project research under demanding, real-world conditions.

Preparations for the system began in December 2025, featuring a unique remote development workflow between Tokyo and Bandung. While participating in an international student exchange program as an International Undergraduate Program (IUP) student in Tokyo, Jeffrey focused on system architecture and software development. Meanwhile, Manggora Zerah Kristina Simanjuntak handled the physical hardware assembly and testing in Bandung. Through intensive communication and coordination across borders, the system was successfully finalized for SAFMC 2026.

For Jeffrey, this competition was not his first brush with success at SAFMC. In the two previous consecutive years, he had also secured a Gold Medal and the Best International Team award with ITB’s Aksantara Team. This past exposure provided him with critical insights into technological trends and the evaluation standards of international UAV competitions.

Despite going up against massive international teams backed by larger rosters and complex commercial equipment, Team BUCINPRO remained confident in the capabilities of their self-developed system. Their hard work, resourcefulness, and courage to innovate became the driving forces behind bringing home the international accolade.

Beyond being a remarkable academic milestone, this success showcases how student-level research can be effectively transformed into a tangible engineering innovation capable of competing in international forums. Team BUCINPRO hopes that their journey will inspire more students to step up, develop bold ideas, and directly validate their research through global competitions and collaborations.