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To provide Hong Kong’s young generation with opportunities to gain practical robotics experience, and to nurture their interest and skills in innovation and technology, the Centre for Innovation and Technology (CINTEC) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)’s Faculty of Engineering joined the Asian Robotics League in organising the “Hong Kong Tech Challenge Junior 2023-2024”. The competition, held successfully earlier at the Hong Kong Science Park, was funded by the Innovation and Technology Fund, sponsored by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and Mitsubishi Electric (Hong Kong) Limited, and organised alongside the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Lee Wai Lee).

At the award ceremony, Professor Wong Kam-fai, Associate Dean (External Affairs) of the Faculty of Engineering and Director of CINTEC, said, “As a hub that nurtures creative talent, continuously supporting the government’s education policies, CINTEC launched the ‘Robotics, STEM and Green Innovation’ programme, formerly known as ‘Integration of Chinese Traditional Culture, Arts, and Robotics’, in 2012, incorporating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) into various activities for local schools, including the ‘Hong Kong Tech Challenge Junior’, where students can cultivate creativity and problem-solving skills in their robot design and application. CINTEC also organises Project ASSETE (‘Assessment Scheme for Engineering and Technology Education’), which implements a well-developed STEAM programme in local schools. It equips our students with cross-curricular knowledge and skills to cope with changes and challenges brought about by the rapid development of society, the global economy and technology in the 21^st century.”

Professor Darwin Lau Tat-ming, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Associate Director and Project Director of CINTEC, said, “We believe that all participating students have greatly benefited from this competition. It has not only enhanced their interest in STEAM subjects, but also allowed them to go through the complete research and development process, from conceiving, designing and manufacturing to iterative testing, providing them with opportunities to apply what they have learned. This fosters their innovative spirit as well as hands-on, problem-solving and collaboration skills. We hope to promote the development of local innovation and technology education by integrating STEAM, robotics and green technology.”

The competition has two categories: primary school and junior secondary school. The 123 participating teams came from 38 primary schools, 35 secondary schools and three other institutions. The Excellence Awards in the primary school and junior secondary school categories went to “Kwong Ming Ying Loi School team 8882B” and “Brainchild team 3298A” respectively. “TWGHs Wong Yee Jar Jat Memorial Primary School team 2706A” and “HHCKLA Buddhist Wong Cho Sum School team 16828A” jointly won the Tournament Champion in the primary school category, while “team 8882C” and “team 8882D” from Kwong Ming Ying Loi School jointly won the Tournament Champion in the junior secondary school category.

This season’s competition was an international qualifier following the international theme of “Full Volume”, where the main objective was to place blocks into scoring baskets using robots. Scores were calculated based on the number, type and height of blocks in each scoring basket. Additionally, teams could obtain points by clearing the zone of the field where the blocks are stored and parking the robots in it at the end of the game.

The competition consisted of three parts. The first part was Tournament, focusing on cooperation and sportsmanship; while the second part was a manual and automatic skills challenge, where participants had to control the robot in manual or automatic modes to complete designated tasks; and the third part was the Judges Award, where participants had to introduce to the judges their robots, the design concept and competition strategy.

The “Hong Kong Tech Challenge Junior 2023-2024” is an event under the “Robotics, STEM and Green Innovation (Phase 3)” programme organised by CINTEC. For the winners list and event photos, please refer to the programme’s website: https://www.cuhk-greenstem.com/ (Chinese version only)