The Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau of the Ministry of Science and Technology held the “2019 FRC Taiwan Practice Event” at the gymnasium of the National Experimental High School at Central Taiwan Science Park on January 30 and 31. After two days of intense competition among more than 400 teachers and students, the National Experimental High School at Central Taiwan Science Park won the Chairman's Award, while Lishan High School, Zhongzheng Industrial Vocational High School, and Hengyi High School won the Winning Alliance award.
The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition launched in 1992 by the US nonprofit FIRST, drawing more than 3,000 teams from around the world each year. Director General Chen Minghuang of the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau said that this year's international FRC game is “Deep Space,” in which alliances of three teams must operate their robot platforms within a time limit, working together to collect balls and race against their opponents. So that teams entering the March 2019 international FRC regional events could get extra practice before competing abroad, the Central Taiwan Science Park Intelligent Robot Maker Base took the lead, building a simulated competition field to the latest specifications released by FIRST headquarters. Through the experience of a competition setting, the aim is to draw out team members' potential and on-the-spot problem-solving skills and to build team chemistry. For the event to run smoothly, special thanks go to the participating schools' coaches and teachers for their hard work, which has helped students throw themselves more fully into learning about AI and intelligent robots, while broadening their understanding of the link between AI and robotics, as everyone works together to nurture talent for the technology industry. Since the game was announced by FIRST headquarters at the start of the year, students at each school have been preparing for the competition with great enthusiasm, even under the pressure of final exams. The practice event was lively, and the competitors felt they gained a lot of valuable experience from having such a practice platform, giving it positive reviews.
Since 2017 the Bureau has hosted FRC observation and training programs. In September 2018, Director General Chen Minghuang and FIRST President Donald E. Bossi signed an MOU. Through to the just-concluded 2019 FRC Taiwan Practice Event, the effort has not only nurtured future R&D talent: through complete course training and competition activities it strengthens students' hands-on skills, and by taking part in world events and competing with teams from around the world, it also represents the Science Park's determination to win the right to host the 2020 FRC international regional event, so that the world can see the strength of Taiwanese students in robotics competitions.