ITS Global Engagement
Published on 29 August 2025
The Sapuangin Team from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) has claimed first place in the prestigious Autonomous Programming Competition (APC), a key event in the Shell Eco-Marathon 2025 series. This marks the team’s second major victory this year, following their win at the Shell Eco-Marathon on-track competition held at Lusail International Circuit, Qatar, from February 8–12, 2025. Together, these achievements reaffirm their growing expertise in autonomous systems and energy-efficient mobility on the international stage.
Held virtually from April to May 2025, the APC challenged university teams worldwide to develop intelligent driving algorithms capable of navigating virtual environments with maximum efficiency. Using ROS and CARLA simulators and a virtual Tesla Model 3, each team was given ten minutes to complete a simulated driving route while minimizing energy consumption.
“Our biggest challenge was adjusting to a tighter, more complex simulation map,” explained Nurul Ilmi Rojabia Hermuttaqien, APC team leader. “We had to fine-tune our algorithm multiple times to ensure the vehicle could drive efficiently, avoid collisions, and stay within energy targets.”
The Sapuangin team focused on building an autonomous driving system that prioritized route efficiency, collision avoidance, and real-time optimization. The result was a system that outperformed teams from across the Asia Pacific and beyond.
This win adds to a series of recent achievements by Sapuangin at the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia Pacific and the Middle East 2025, where they also won 1st place in the Urban Concept Commercial Engine category, 1st place in Vehicle Design, 2nd place in Data and Telemetry, and 3rd place in the Regional Championship.
Team member Bagus Subekti emphasized the importance of resilience throughout the competition. “Despite limited resources and a packed timeline, we stayed committed. This win reflects not just our technical skill, but our determination to keep pushing forward.”
Beyond competition results, this success also reflects ITS’s broader commitment to enhancing the students’ learning experience. By ensuring close academic supervision and involving highly qualified research staff, ITS fosters an environment where students from all backgrounds can thrive on high-impact projects, such as Sapuangin.
Backed by ITS through strong research support and development facilities, the team plans to continue refining its autonomous technology and hopes to inspire other students to compete globally in the field of smart mobility.
“This isn’t just about winning a competition,” said Nurul. “It’s about proving that Indonesian students can lead in future mobility innovation.”
