Young Talents Show Creativity and Robotics Engineering Prowess at Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest

Dr. Chung Wai Keung, David, JP, Acting Secretary for Innovation & Technology, congratulated Phantom Dancer from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, champion of the Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest.

Leung Ka Wing, JP, Director of Broadcasting, presented the Best Institute Entity Award to The Craftsman from the Education University of Hong Kong.

George Tee, Chief Technology Officer of HKSTP, presented the Best Team Spirit Award to Fiery Dragon from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He encouraged all the participating students to continue to innovate and explore the exciting landscape of robotics development.

Dr Crystal Fok, Chairperson of the Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest Organising Committee; Associate Director, MPE Cluster & Robotics Platform of HKSTP, shared on stage the theme for 2019 – “Great Urtuu”.

After multiple rounds of exciting one-on-one competition, Phantom Dancer from The Chinese University of Hong Kong won champion of the Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest. They will represent Hong Kong at ABU Asia-Pacific Robot Contest 2019 in Mongolia in August.

The Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest provided a platform for young talent to showcase creativity and gain hands-on experience in robotics innovation, strengthening the talent pool for the innovation and technology ecosystem. 

13 teams of young talent from seven local tertiary institutions competed head-to-head for the champion at the Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest.

(Hong Kong, 23 June 2019) – The Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest was concluded successfully at Hong Kong Science Park today. 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 the Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest is “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. 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. In addition, each participating team will be offered two internship places at Hesita Kitchen. Founded by four engineering students from HKU and previous participants of the Robocon contest, Hesita Kitchen is Hong Kong’s first robotised smart kitchen, adopting technologies in mechanical and electronic engineering and AI .

George Tee, Chief Technology Officer of HKSTP, said: “Robotics touch so many aspects of everyday life. Today, I am proud to see the creativity, enthusiasm, excitement of our students in making every effort in demonstrating their robotics prowess at the contest. I would like to congratulate each of them in doing their best to complete the competition, regardless if they win or lose, and hope they would continue to innovate and explore the exciting landscape of robotics development so as to fuel the I&T development of Hong Kong.

The Robocon contest provides an excellent opportunity for our 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 our partners and various sponsors. We call for greater support from the community to help nurture our local talent in robotics, and may this foster the growth of our robotics industry and contribute to our ever-growing I&T ecosystem,” he concluded.

The Robocon 2019 Hong Kong 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.

This year, 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. 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.

For the list of winning teams of the Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest, please refer to Appendix.

Appendix: Robocon 2019 Hong Kong Contest - List of Winning Teams: