The Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest was concluded successfully at Hong Kong Science Park according to a press release.
Phantom Dancer from the Chinese University of Hong Kong was crowned champion after multiple rounds of one-on-one competition against a record number of 13 teams from seven tertiary institutions in Hong Kong.
Organised by Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), the annual Robocon contest aims to inspire and stimulate students’ interests in the subjects of Robotics and STEM through building different robotic prototypes to complete tasks given, while working in teams on how to apply robotic technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) on the design.
Now in its 16th year, the theme of this year’s contest Contest was “Great Urtuu”, or Sharing the Knowledge, inspired by a traditional Mongolian messenger system.
The competition challenges the participants to build one manual and one automatic robotic prototype that have to execute a range of tasks over a miniature Mongolian landscape within three minutes, to demonstrate their technical and physical capabilities.
These tasks include crossing different geographical conditions while carrying the Gerege as a testimony, throwing Shagai to earn 50 or more points, and raising the Gerege upon reaching the finish line.
Along with HKSTP, the Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest received strong support from various partners, including The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, Hong Kong Computer Society, and Radio Television Hong Kong.
In addition, each participating team received a membership to HKSTP’s Robotics Garage, where the users have access to professional tools, advanced fabrication machinery and technical advisory to bring their robotics ideas to life.
Moreover, every participating team will be offered two internship places at Hong Kong’s first robotised smart kitchen, adopting technologies in mechanical and electronic engineering and AI. The kitchen was founded by four engineering students from HKU and previous participants of the Robocon contest.
The Chief Technology Officer of HKSTP stated that robotics touch so many aspects of everyday life and it is exciting to see the creativity, enthusiasm, excitement of Hong Kong’s students in making every effort in demonstrating their robotics prowess at the contest.
Each member was congratulated for their contributions and doing their best to complete the competition, regardless of winning or losing.
It is hoped that these students will continue to innovate and explore the exciting landscape of robotics development so as to fuel the I&T development of Hong Kong.
The robotics engineering contest provides an excellent opportunity for local talent to showcase their flair for creativity and engineering and to share knowledge with counterparts from other areas. The success of this event could only come with the enormous support from partners and various sponsors.
Greater support is being called for from the community to help nurture Hong Kong’s local talent in robotics, and may this foster the growth of Hong Kong’s robotics industry and contribute to its ever-growing I&T ecosystem.
The Contest attracted 13 multi-disciplinary teams from the City University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of Hong Kong, and the Education University of Hong Kong.
At this year’s contest, the top three institutions that earned the highest marks in the competition are invited to attend in the upcoming ABU Asia-Pacific Robot Contest 2019, to be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in August 2019.
The champion, Phantom Dancer from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, will be representing Hong Kong to compete against teams from China, Egypt, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam and many more.
