They could hardly have chosen a more fitting name—especially after their vehicle covered an incredible 880 metres in the Long Distance category. Team No Stopping Allowed from the Secondary School of Mechanical Engineering in Olomouc swept the podiums across the competition and claimed overall victory at the third edition of Pneuracer, a contest for secondary school students.
Fifteen of the best teams qualified for the final competition day out of a total of forty-two entrants. Each year, more secondary school students are eager to design, build, and race compressed-air-powered vehicles, and the level of competition continues to rise.
“The progress over the past three years has been enormous. Many of the designs we see today are highly sophisticated. Students talk about things like topology optimization, achieve significantly lower vehicle weights, and their results speak for themselves. We are seeing new technologies, new steering concepts, and even autonomous vehicles. None of this was present in the first year,” says competition organizer Matúš Ranuša from the Institute of Machine and Industrial Design at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, BUT.
The competition aims to introduce young people to engineering in an engaging and practical way—and to teach them how to learn from mistakes. The team from Gymnázium Vídeňská in Brno knows that firsthand.
“That piston generates too much force, even though it's actually the smallest one we have. But plastic isn't exactly the strongest material, so yesterday alone we managed to destroy four gears. I designed and printed the last replacement part this morning,” laughs Matyáš from Gvid Motorsport, while he and his teammates Daniel and Ondra wait for their turn in the Long Distance event.
The vehicles must prove their versatility throughout the competition. Separate disciplines test acceleration, handling, and endurance in the Long Distance race. This year, the Olomouc-based team No Stopping Allowed dominated the endurance event. To make sure nobody doubted their determination, they even brought along a real “No Stopping” traffic sign.
“Don't worry, it's not missing from any road. We got it from a friend who manufactures traffic signs,” their teacher jokes.
The complete photo gallery by photographer Václav Široký is available here.
Last year, No Stopping Allowed finished second. This year, they raced to overall victory while also excelling in individual disciplines. Their teacher believes the secret lies in preserving know-how within the team.
“It took some convincing to get this year's graduating students involved. They were worried about their final exams and whether they could manage everything. But they eventually agreed, so our team includes fourth-, third-, and second-year students,” he explains.
Several of those graduating students immediately announced that they would be returning to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, BUT in September—this time as first-year university students.
“We absolutely love this competition, mainly because the students themselves love it. They're active, they come up with interesting ideas, they ask questions, and they're genuinely interested in engineering. And it's true that some participants from previous years are already studying here. In fact, two of them are now part of this year's organizing team,” confirms Matúš Ranuša.
Even learning from mistakes worked out perfectly for Gvid Motorsport. The team finished second in both the Long Distance and Acceleration categories and earned bronze in the Arcade Race. Their consistent performance secured them the overall silver trophy. Perhaps the last-minute replacement part they designed and printed just before the finals brought them luck after all.
The main partner of the competition is SMC Industrial Automation CZ s.r.o.
The competition is also supported by PRUSA RESEARCH by JOSEF PRUSA.
This activity is supported through the project NEXT GENERATION BUT: Enhancing the Quality and Relevance of Education at BUT (Reg. No. CZ.02.02.XX/00/23_022/0009052).