Competitors keen to pass on expertise

Two students from a college in Henan province won this year's mobile robotics gold medal at the WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition in Bordeaux, France.

Hou Kunpeng and Tang Gaoyuan, students at Luohe Technician College, won first prize with a miniature robot that can fetch medicine and deliver it to designated "patients".

With the development of artificial intelligence technology, robots are now commonly seen in logistics businesses, manufacturing industries, restaurants and hospitals.

Tang said, "I became interested in robotics at a young age. I think intelligent manufacturing will become the trend, so I chose to major in robotic application and maintenance in an attempt to set foot in this field."

Born in 1999 in Xuchang, Henan province, Tang began his college studies in 2018. Hou is two years younger than Tang, and their daily courses cover programming, robotic vision and kinematics.

Like other Chinese contestants in the WorldSkills Competition, training for the pair was intense and well-designed.

Hou said training started in June, after he and Tang had outperformed other candidates from around the country.

"We received a mission one morning, for which we were required to assemble the robot, program it and make adjustments, just like in the real competition. The training that day lasted for 12 hours," Hou said.

The training session was videotaped for future reference and for improvements to be made.

In Bordeaux, the five sections of the competition had to be completed in four days. The task was to construct a robot to deliver medicine to a designated location.

Tang said, "The robot in the competition was a miniature one, which meant we had to have the experience needed to assemble it. We also had to be extremely precise in programming the device."

The task on the third day was more difficult, as contestants were required to open the "window" of a medicine cabinet for the robot and close it afterwards.

Tang said: "We had never dealt with such a task before, so we changed the structure of the robot's claw and improved the programming for it. We were the only team that managed to close the window."

Wang Bo, who started coaching Hou and Tang in 2018, said both of them have the ability to perform well. "Tang rarely gives up until he achieves his goal, and Hou is thoughtful and creative," Wang said.

The robotics competition also requires contestants to have good teamwork.

Hou said, "When we have different opinions, we discuss them and choose the better solution."

Tang and Hou have decided to pass on the "spirit of WorldSkills" to others.

"I have learned knowledge and gained valuable experience from these years of training, and I hope to pursue lifelong learning through practicing in the future," Hou said.