HKU Robocon Clinches Historic Championship

HKU Robocon triumphed over rival university teams from 15 countries and regions to win its first-ever Grand Prix at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s Asia-Pacific Robot Contest 2026 (ABU Robocon) on August 23.

Representing Team Hong Kong, China as the winner of the local competition in June, HKU Robocon dominated the event, winning all of its matches before once again topping fellow Hong Kong representatives from the Chinese University of Hong Kong team in a thrilling final.

“This marks HKU’s first-ever championship win in the ABU Robocon competition, making it a truly historic achievement for our team,” said Team Captain Randolph Wendi Zhong, a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering Student at HKU. “Winning this title is a significant affirmation of our ability to apply creativity and engineering expertise on the international stage, and it will inspire us to continue pursuing even greater challenges in the future.”

Home-court advantage

Established in 2002, ABU Robocon is the largest university robotics competition in the Asia-Pacific Region. This year’s event was held in Hong Kong for the first time since 2012 and asked teams to compete in a “Kung Fu Quest,” building robots capable of equipping themselves with “weapons,” navigate a martial arts inspired forest, and finally place Kung Fu scrolls onto a vertical tic-tac-toe board.

The contest required teams to build two robots capable of communicating with each other – with one robot required to operate entirely autonomously. This created a “unique challenge” said Jasper Li, HKU Robocon’s Electronic Engineering team lead.

“With one of the robots functioning entirely autonomously, the team had to develop methods to ensure efficient and reliable coordination between the two robots throughout the match,” he explained.

“Following the local tournament, we further enhanced our third-generation R1 robots with a more proactive offensive strategy and improved overall capabilities,” noted Andy Zheng, the lead of Software Team. “By integrating advanced sensor technology with sophisticated programming, the robots were able to identify targets and determine efficient routes in real time. Combined with extensive operator training, these improvements enabled the team to perform consistently and make rapid decisions under pressure.”

In tackling these challenges, the team was motivated by its close call at last year’s Basketball-themed ABU Robocon in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where they finished as the first runner-up. They also received raucous support from the home crowd at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong, where fans cheered on the city’s representatives.

To the team’s surprise, the final would be a rematch against CUHK, the same team they narrowly beat to win the local competition in June. CUHK had a solid strategy, forcing HKU into a foul in their previous match, but the rematch was all HKU, as the team’s pilot deftly dodged the CUHK thrusts to complete the Kung Fu Quest.

Creativity and expertise

In some ways, the victory is the culmination of a yearslong project to grow HKU Robocon into a regional powerhouse.

Supervised by Dr HH Cheung, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Data and Systems Engineering and Dr Match Ko, Principal Lecturer of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the now 40-person student interest group has received significant support from the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing of the Faculty of Engineering.

“This historic victory at ABU Robocon highlights HKU’s excellence in engineering innovation and interdisciplinary application,” said Professor David Srolovitz, Dean of Engineering at HKU. “By effectively integrating mechanical design, artificial intelligence, and real-time strategy, the team demonstrated exceptional skill in a highly demanding competition – embodying the true spirit of 'investigating things to extend knowledge' alongside cutting-edge technology.”

Professor Xiang Zhang, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKU, also congratulated the team on its historic win, linking it to the University’s mission to strengthening both its students and Hong Kong’s development landscape. “At HKU, we are committed to nurturing the next generation of creative thinkers and technological leaders who possess a global perspective and the courage to push boundaries,” he said.

“This victory also showcases Hong Kong’s growing strength in technology, higher education, and robotics research on the global stage. HKU will continue to support pioneering research and innovation that contributes to the region’s development as an international innovation hub.”

Photo credits: Radio Television Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.