As Gujarat aspires to be a major automobile hub, many automobile engineering students across the state’s technical colleges are working on projects that range from a multi-point spanner to reduce the time it takes to change flat tyres to a hybrid engine that would use the heat energy otherwise wasted when a vehicle brakes, thereby saving fuel.

Even a “Formula 1 car” prototype is in the works.

Others include a modified formulation that would effectively raise the heat resistance of engines, mechanisms that would mute the engine’s sound, systems to get smoother paint jobs and several braking system studies as well as manufacturing process improvements.

One project even talks about a small modification that would raise the capacities of normal vehicle batteries while doing away with alternators, a project especially important because higher-grade batteries needed to power newer cars with more and more electrical components are usually more expensive and heavier.

There is even an ambitious proposal to design a “Formula 1 race car”, with a prototype already developed.

Arjun Thakkar, a student from the A D Patel Institute of Technology at Karamsad, is one of those behind the F1 prototype. He said he and his team used a Maruti 800 engine, built an F1 car’s body around it and modified the suspension to give it suitable ground clearance to navigate at higher speeds.

Huzaifa S Pitowala from A D Patel Institute of Technology in Anand district has developed a multipoint spanner that can theoretically cut down the time taken for changing tyres.

The prototype he has developed can be operated both manually and can be connected to the car’s batteries and run on electricity. His future designs would include a similar spanner that can be fitted to various wheel rims.

Motorcycles, of course, seem to be a preferred specimen for various students, who have made proposals to develop hybrid engines, including a solar-powered motorcycle.

One student of diploma civil engineering who has dropped out and began informally exploring automobiles is Mithilesh Patel from Vadodara, whose water-fuel kit can raise fuel efficiencies in bikes by as much as 20 per cent or more.

The kit uses the gaseous hydrogen from water and mixes it with the fuel.

Another of Patel’s inventions is the electric motorcycle that can run up to 70 kms per full charge, which takes some six hours, and is an auto-clutch machine.
In fact, some of these projects deal with various problems shared by motor companies. Many of these projects are based on particular vehicles and are part of Gujarat Technological University’s and Sankul scheme.