Bandung Students Show Smoke-Detecting Drone to Gibran

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – A team of lecturers and students from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in West Java showcased several innovations to Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming at the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. The innovations ranged from forest fire detection equipment to artificial intelligence technology for detecting floods.

According to the Indonesian Vice Presidential Secretariat, among the innovations that received particular attention from Vice President Gibran was Eaglesense, the technology that can detect changes in air quality caused by smoke exposure and provide an early indication of forest and land fires. The technology could be developed as an environmental monitoring instrument.

Jhon Chritabel Fausta Silalahi, a representative of the Eaglesense team, explained that the innovation integrates a drone with a sensor kitbox equipped with several devices to measure air quality. The data is then processed and transmitted directly to a database system for display on a monitoring dashboard.

“The sensor kitbox contains several sensors – five in total – that measure air quality. The results are then processed by a Raspi (Raspberry Pi), after which the Raspi sends the data in a specific format via 4G to the database, and the database is then displayed through a dashboard,” he explained.

Drones enable air-quality data to be collected across larger and hard-to-reach areas, while the sensor and dashboard systems provide a faster overview of air-quality conditions. Further development of the technology is expected to strengthen environmental monitoring capabilities and support efforts to detect potential forest and land fires at an early stage.

In addition to Eaglesense, four other teams also presented innovations developed across various fields of study. Intv-ML uses machine learning to determine the optimal oil wells for intervention. Meanwhile, Concorde Systems has developed a computerized management system for assets and heavy equipment maintenance.

There is also SIGAP, an unmanned ground vehicle developed as a modular platform for various functions, ranging from green-space maintenance using a grass-cutting module to the development of a fertilizer sprayer module and an NPK sensor as its added value. Noah AI, meanwhile, was developed to predict and mitigate flood disasters.

Augie Widyotriatmo, a lecturer in the Department of Engineering Physics at ITB’s Faculty of Industrial Technology, said in a statement that Gibran expressed his appreciation for the various innovations presented by the students. According to Augie, the Vice President also encouraged the students to ensure that their innovations do not stop at the research and development stage, but continue to be refined so that they have broader potential applications.

“The students here presented the innovations they have developed at the Bandung Institute of Technology, and the Vice President greatly appreciates the innovations that have been developed,” he said.

“The Vice President’s direction was for us to continue developing them, and he will continue to provide support by facilitating access to relevant industries,” he added.