Release Date 25 Oct 2022    Mandarin

The University has held the International Intelligent RoboSports Cup (RoboSports 2022), a national contest, for over a decade. This year, the University held the RoboSports 2022 and the FIRA 2022 SimulCup (FIRA 2022), an international competition, at the same venue from Aug 19 to 21.

 

Further, this grand event has attracted over 500 competitors and 2,002 student groups to participate in contests. Those robots made by students can do archery, weight lifting, basketball shooting, sprinting, and running a marathon. A highlight of these contest categories was the 2022 Robot Boxing League (2022 RBL) which caught spectators’ eyes.

 

In the international competition FIRA 2022, there were 15 student groups from 6 universities attended the Hurocup category, in which NTNU won the championship in its subcategory Adult Size, and TKU won the championship in its subcategory Kid Size.

 

The project head Professor Tu, Kuo-Yang (杜國洋) of the Electrical Engineering Department (EE), stated: “We started to hold the national robotics contest a decade ago under the auspices of the MOE. Until now, we have trained over a thousand students, and several have taken part in international competitions and been winners year after year.”

 

International Intelligent RoboSports Cup (RoboSports 2022)

 

The University has been promoting the International Intelligent RoboSports under the MOE Project of Supporting Students from the Technological and Vocational Education System to Participate in International Competition since 2012.

 

The RoboSports Cup is a national contest that aims to select and train elite national contestants to compete in international competitions.

 

Starting this year, the RoboSports 2022 decided each contest category has two age groups, the Pro group was for student competitors from colleges and universities, and the Youth group was for students from high schools or vocational high schools.

 

The following was a total of over 30 schools that attended the game. The Pro group has teams from NTUST, NTU, NCKU, Taipei Tech, NKUST, NQU, TKU, MCU, HWH, NTNU, NCCU, NYCU, YZU, CYCU, NCUT, FCU, CYUT, CSU, and etc. The Youth group has TAIVS, KSVS, LKSH, JFVS, FDHS, SAIHS, ZHSH, PCSH, NSSH, NRVS, KYICVS, ICVS and etc.

 

One thing worth mentioning was that Ku, Kuan-Lin (辜冠霖), a student from the Department of Entomology, NTU, attended the Robot Show Pro group of RoboSports 2022 individually.

 

Since his major has no connection with robot making, judges approved his work and awarded him first place. Ku revealed a great interest in robotics and had been enthusiastic about learning and making robotics by himself since high school.

 

Although he didn’t major in any engineering departments later on, he observed the structure and rhythm of insects to adjust his robots.

 

“The significant number and diverse backgrounds of students attending show the growing influence of the RoboSports 2022.”

 

“The significant number and diverse backgrounds of students attending show the growing influence of the RoboSports 2022. I expect robotics will be applied in a variety of commercial areas in the future,” says Prof. Tu.

 

Meanwhile, in the AutoRace category of RoboSports 2022, TKU won first, and NKUST won third.

 

FIRA 2022 SimulCup (FIRA 2022)

 

The University held its Taiwan Hub event at the same venue as the RoboSports 2022.

 

Although the COVID pandemic has subsided, international travel remained costly and difficult for most participants. Thus, the FIRA committee decided to hold the international competition simultaneously in several local hub events worldwide.

 

Each Chapter prepared the competition venue for local hubs in their country and informed local competitors. Competitors of a local hub would compete in person but be evaluated by online and offline judges.

 

Prof. Tu added that many countries held local hubs (international competition) except the Taiwan hub, such as Russia, Korea, China, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. Since Germany will hold the FIRA 2023, the country also has the German hub.

 

The Hurocup category is the main robot challenge event of the FIRA 2022. Areas of the category include sprint, weight lifting, archery, basketball, triple jump, and so on. Six universities and colleges attended the FIRA 2022 SimulCup, including TKU, NTNU, MCU, NCUT, HWH, and NKUST.

 

A few days before the FIRA 2022 and RoboSports 2022, EE Prof. Tu and his team hosted several workshops and keynote speeches for participants.

 

In the Hurocup Kid Size category of the FIRA 2022, the MCU1 team from MCU won first place in the overall score, and the Honey Lemon team from NTNU won second place. In addition, TKU teams won the champions in the sprint, archery, weight lifting, obstacle run, spartan race, marathon, and basketball.

 

Next, in the Hurocup Adult Size category, the ZSTT-NTNU team won first place in the overall score, including the all-round, sprint, and weight lifting. In addition, the University won first place in the marathon challenge and won third in the overall score.

 

Prof. Tu has been appointed Vice President of FIRA and has successfully held RoboSports 2021 online and organized the Taiwan hub of SimlCup (FIRA 2022). The FIRA 2022 has more than 20 countries hosting local hubs.

 

He commented that it is hoped that the COVID pandemic would subside and all participants could meet in person as well as compete at the same venue in 2023.

 

As far as students are interested in robotics making, attending international competitions becomes a steady path to success for these national talents.

 

Prof. Tu strongly believes that these students will be future pillars of Taiwan’s robotics industry. Furthermore, the efforts teachers and students have made each year will boost the sector’s development.

 

Check the final results of RoboSports 2022 and FIRA 2022 at http://humanoid.nkust.edu.tw/RoboSports2022/.

 

Further Reading

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NKUST Held 2021 International Intelligent RoboSports Cup Online

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FIRA

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Translated/Edited by Jess Lin