NKUST Held 2021 International Intelligent RoboSports Cup Online
Release Date 9 August 2021 Mandarin
The development of automation technology has accelerated the growth of robotics technology. Asia, as the biggest robotics market, accounts for 35.27% in the global. The rise of big data and artificial intelligence makes Industrial 4.0 a coming reality. These technological advancements are also likely to boost the robotic market.
Foreseeing the potential of the robotics market, the Ministry of Education (MOE) held a national robotics contest to select outstanding groups attending international competitions. The 2021 International Intelligent RoboSports Cup was held by NKUST under the auspices of the MOE. It invited all university students who were interested in robotics to attend the contest. Even with the contest facing a coming tropical storm, the contest was still held on Aug 7 and 8 online.
Due to the pandemic, the contest was moved online, and its contest categories were reduced. All competitors stayed at home or at their schools to join the contest online.
NKUST developed a remote video surveillance software to both monitor and evaluate competitors’ performance. The software was also used as a platform for one of the contest categories, the Tele-OP Robot Arm. Competitors were required to connect their controllers to the software to control actual robot arms at NKUST remotely.
On Aug 7, NKUST rescheduled all contest categories to Aug 8 due to tropical storm Lupit, which introduced torrential rain and caused parts of offices and schools in southern Taiwan to close.
“This year is the 11th year for NKUST to hold the national contest, which has become a must-attend event for university students of robotics-related majors across the nation”
“This year is the 11th year for NKUST to hold the national contest, which has become a must-attend event for university students of robotics-related majors across the nation,” says Professor Tu, Kuo-Yang of the Electrical Engineering Department.
The number of contestants has steadily increased. In 2020, more than 600 students signed up for the contest. These contestants were from universities across the nation, such as Taipei Tech, NCUT, NCKU, NTNU, TKU, FCU, MCU, and NQU. TKU has the largest number of students - 73 - attending the competition.
Professor Tu added: “In recent years, several students of vocational high schools have signed up for the contest, expected to win a ticket for future international competitions.”
The top 10 winners of the 2021 International Intelligent RoboSports Cup will receive subsidies for international competitions, such as the Federation of International Sports Association (FIRA) and Robo-ONE. But more student groups signed up for international competitions at their own expense. Before the pandemic, over 200 contestants joined international competitions in 2019.
The opening ceremony was held on Aug 7 and the contest was on Aug 8. The contest was changed from an offline to an online version, called Social Distancing Edition (SDE). It included five categories: HuroCup, Tele-OP Robot Arm, Robo-ONE, Robo-ONE Light, and Robot Show.
The category of HuroCup focuses on the control of robots; it required robots to do running, archery, weightlifting, basketball shooting, and triple jumps.
The categories of Robo-ONE and Robo-ONE Light focus on robot wrestling, and Robot Show is about human-robot interaction and entertainment performance.
The category of Tele-OP Robot Arm will require participants to connect NKUST-developed software to control robotic arms remotely.
Further Reading
Translated by Jess Lin
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