Recently the 13th Tianjin University Robot Competition, organized by Tianjin University Youth League Committee and the Student Association of Science and Technology of Tianjin University (TJU), was held in the Library Lecture Hall on Peiyang Park Campus. 

Tianjin University Robot Festival was first held in 2004, and has grown into an important fixture on the social calendar for faculty and students in TJU. Over 13 years’ development, it has become the signature event of the Student Association of Science and Technology of TJU. With the robot competition as its core, the association has developed an athletic competition and carries out robot painting, modelling, science popularization and other peripheral competitions linked to robots as well. The competition is held annually, and usually lasts six months until the final closing ceremony is held. Aiming to fuse robot building with competitive sports, and to promote the "faster, higher, stronger” spirit of sportsmanship, its theme is sports show technology. 

This Competition is open to students, individuals, as well as corporate practitioners; groups and organizations are welcome to enter this competition as long as they satisfy the requirements. 

In 2016, the competition has introduced a new rule which allows contestants to employ a remote control device in a specific area. Robots in the prompter area boot themselves up in response to the starter sound and then proceeded along the tracking line, passed through the basketball zone, arch bridge, football zone, bowling zone, maze and other barriers, and finally board the podium.  

The robot competition is a test of the robots’ basic functions and their information processing capability, especially their flexibility and adaptability, requiring robots to identify external objects and autonomously make decisions. With checkpoints of generality, moderate difficulty and open tasks, the competition focuses on creative innovation and ideas in robot-design, the rationality of the algorithms employed in the programming and the efficiency of implementation. 

A total of eight teams competed in the finals: KTA, Angry Birds, Amazing Conch, Railway Guerrilla, Feat, Small Target, Normal Looks Association and Fly a Car While East Wind. Four quarter-finals were held by drawing lots. Feat, Small Target, Normal Looks Association and Fly a Car While East Wind stood out and ranked top 4, progressing into the next round. 

Small Target claim their prize and are joined by participants and organizers on stage. 

In the intermission, the Rewalk Robot Display attracted the audience’s attention. Rewalk is a robot with a rehabilitation system, which includes sensors and controllers, enabling paralyzed patients to have limb movements through electrostimulation. 

The four teams continued their competition after the display ended. The battle for the championship between Small Target and Feat was intense and went down to the wire. After two minutes of heroics, Small Target won and achieved their goal-"winning the championship". Eventually, Feat and Fly A Car while East Wind were ranked second and third respectively. 

“Sports is an eternal theme of life, and so is technology to development. We should pay more attention to students’ work in scientific research and create more platforms for them” said Lv Jing, the secretary of Tianjin University Youth League Committee. 

The Championship team were awarded 10,000RMB, with 5,000RMB going to the runner-up, and 3000 RMB for second runner-up. The rest of the teams received an award of excellence and 1,500RMB per team.  

By: Hu Cailing 

Student Editor: Chen Shupei, Editor: Qin Mian and Christopher Peter Clarke