Taiwanese high school students advance to U.S. robotics championship

San Diego, March 23 (CNA) A team of Taiwanese high school students has advanced to the championship of the 2025 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) in the United States after competing in the four-day San Diego Regional.

The team, consisting of 41 students from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School's robotics club, was one of four teams that emerged from the 51 teams competing in the regional event to secure a berth in the FIRST Championship in Houston in April.

According to FRC rules, "teams of high school students are challenged to raise funds, design a team brand, hone teamwork skills, and build and program a robot to compete against other teams" within a limited timeframe and with restricted resources.

This experience, as described on the competition's website, simulates real-world engineering as closely as possible for students.

At the regional competition, the Taiwanese students advanced through the first two rounds, but then suffered two losses and did not make the regional finals.

They directly qualified for the championship round, however, after winning the tournament's FIRST Impact Award in recognition of their community contributions.

The other three teams to advance were the two regional finalists and the winner of the tournament's Engineering Inspiration Award.

Since 2019, the Taiwanese team has collaborated with the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families to provide hands-on robotics education for disadvantaged students and promote robotics learning in primary and junior high schools.

One student, who commented that "most of our learning is done from textbooks," told CNA he enjoyed interacting with younger students, as it also gave him valuable learning experiences.

Chang Chen-wei (章宸瑋), a second-year high school student, said he learned a lot from the American participants, whom he said "did not just come here to compete."

Describing the local teams as valuing more than just wins and losses, Chang said he was impressed by their collaboration and enjoyment of the process, which allowed them to showcase their individual talents.

The FRC is an annual tournament featuring over 3,000 teams worldwide. The 2025 San Diego event marks the 19th edition of that regional competition.