S1C Angel Lin Sin Chi (連善知)
Instructors: Sandra U Cheng Man, Kelly Ka Ka Chong, Rachel Tou Wing Sze
The Robotics Team from Pui Ching Middle School won third prize in the RoboCup 2025* competition held in Brazil in July last year, making history as the first high school in the world to receive this award.
Competing against around 2,000 participants from more than 40 countries, including university students and researchers, the robotics team from Pui Ching Middle School was one of the youngest teams.
Team member Rayson Wu Iat Long said that the team has been training for over four years. Despite competing against opponents with far more advanced robots and larger budgets, as well as facing strict time and attempt limits, their initial goal was simply to gain experience. To their surprise, they advanced to the second round and performed exceptionally well.
Their teacher, Lam Kin Un, acknowledged the difficulty of balancing the demanding preparation for the competition with the students’ academic pursuits. He noted that students today face significantly more academic pressure and extracurricular activities, making it difficult for them to find spare time to develop their interests. Lam emphasised, “To motivate them, we must first lead by example and set a good model. Once they have that motivation, everything will go more smoothly and they will come up with more new ideas.”
Now, with valuable experience and surprising advancements under their belts, they aim to compete again at RoboCup 2026 in South Korea. Their goal is to improve their robot, strengthen teamwork, and better prepare for future challenges, proving that perseverance truly can take a team from practice to the podium.
The RoboCup competition, the largest international annual competition for autonomous service robots, is incredibly challenging. The team’s robot must operate completely autonomously in a realistic home environment, facing changing lighting effects, moving people, and unexpected obstacles. It needs to use sensors, process voice commands, and navigate like a human to complete tasks safely and smartly. It also has to finish common housework tasks, such as understanding voice instructions, finding and carrying objects, opening doors, and greeting guests – all testing whether the robot can genuinely help people in daily life.
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This text was provided to the Post by Pui Ching Middle School.
*According to its official website, the RoboCup 2025 was held in the city of Salvador from July 15 to 21.
Photos provided by Pui Ching Middle School
