HKU engineering team represents Hong Kong at ABU Robocon clinches historic first championship with stellar performance

The University of Hong Kong

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HKU Robocon represented Team Hong Kong, China at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s Asia-Pacific Robot Contest 2026.

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Credit: The University of Hong Kong

The HKU Robocon team from the Faculty of Engineering at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) represented Hong Kong and won the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s Asia-Pacific Robot Contest 2026 (ABU Robocon 2026). The team triumphed over university teams from 15 countries and regions, including Japan, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam, marking its first-ever victory in this prestigious international competition.

Professor Xiang Zhang, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKU, congratulated the team on their victory, "This triumph is a shining example of the exceptional talent, dedication, and innovative spirit of our students. 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. 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."

ABU Robocon 2026, held on August 23, was jointly organised by Radio Television Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. The event marked Hong Kong’s return as host since 2012. The HKU Robocon team "Sapientia", having clinched the local championship for two consecutive years at Robocon Hong Kong 2026, proudly earned the honour of representing Hong Kong on the international stage.

The theme of this year’s competition, “Kung Fu Quest”, honours the legacy of Kung Fu and inspires innovation, encouraging participants to push the boundaries of robotics while respecting tradition.  Each team, consisting of two robots, will navigate a dynamic arena where they must collaborate to assemble powerful weapons, collect sacred Kung-Fu Scrolls, and engage in a strategic Tic-Tac-Toe showdown. This journey mirrors the rigorous training and mental fortitude required to earn the title of a Kung Fu master, blending cultural heritage with cutting-edge technology. The team stood out with exceptional collaboration and innovative engineering capability, ultimately claiming the championship after intense competitions.

Professor David Srolovitz, Dean of Engineering, congratulates the winning team and said, “This historic victory at ABU Robocon highlights HKU’s excellence in engineering innovation and interdisciplinary application. 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. I am very proud of their accomplishment and look forward to seeing these talented engineers continue to contribute to society and shape the future through their creativity and expertise.”

Following the local tournament, the team competed with its third-generation R1 robots, featuring a proactive offensive strategy and enhanced capabilities. Together, the two robots can collect two weapons and seven Kung-Fu Scrolls while providing greater flexibility in defense. By integrating advanced sensor technology with sophisticated programming, the robot accurately identified the Kung-Fu Scrolls and determined the most efficient routes in real time. Another key factor behind the team's success was extensive operator training, which enabled team members to master the robot's capabilities and deliver consistent performance and rapid decision-making under competitive conditions.

Team captain Randolph Wendi Zhong, a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student, expressed great excitement about winning the international competition, “This championship marks the HKU’s first-ever championship in ABU Robocon competition, making it a truly historic achievement for our team. The victory is the result of a year of unwavering dedication and teamwork, with every member contributing countless hours to refining the robot’s design and performance. Competing on home ground made the experience even more memorable, and the enthusiastic support from the audience gave us tremendous motivation throughout the competition. Winning this title is a significant affirmation of our ability to apply creativity and engineering expertise on the international stage, and it inspires us to continue pursuing even greater challenges in the future”.

ABU Robocon, established in 2002, is the largest university robotics competition in the Asia-Pacific region. Its mission is to foster exchange and collaboration among young people in engineering, technology, and innovation. Each year, the competition features a unique theme, encouraging teams to demonstrate creativity by designing and building robots to complete various challenges.

HKU Robocon is a student interest group of the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing of the Faculty of Engineering. The team comprises 40 students from engineering and science backgrounds. Supervised by Dr HH Cheung, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Data and Systems Engineering and Dr Match Ko, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the two HKU Robocon teams showcased exceptional talent and innovation. The HKU Robocon team is also supported by a number of faculty members and staff, including Professor Leslie George Tham, Professor Kit Chui and Mr Derek KC Tong.

About HKU Robocon ： https://innowings.engg.hku.hk/robocon/

HKU SMASH Team wins silver at World Humanoid Robot Games with world-first autonomous humanoid table tennis system

The University of Hong Kong

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Led by Professor Ping LUO, Associate Director (AI Research and Tech Transfer) of the School of Computing and Data Science (CDS) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), the SMASH Team won the silver medal in robot table tennis at the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games, held recently in Beijing.

Competing against 11 teams from across China and overseas, SMASH advanced to the final after defeating a joint team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Shanghai Innovation Institute, as well as Shenzhen University, ultimately securing the silver medal.

One of the Games' most technically demanding events, robot table tennis requires humanoid robots to compete autonomously under official match rules, without remote control or manual ball feeding. Robots must perceive, predict and respond to every shot in real time, testing the limits of embodied AI, motion planning and whole-body control.

The SMASH Team is a young research group specialising in embodied AI, with members comprising primarily HKU PhD students. Its SMASH system integrates visual perception, ball trajectory prediction, motion planning and whole-body control, while supporting autonomous serving for complete robot-to-robot matches.

Using onboard sensing alone without external cameras or motion-capture systems, SMASH is, to the team’s knowledge, the world’s first humanoid table-tennis system capable of consecutive strikes through onboard perception. It has also achieved rallies of more than 100 consecutive shots with human players and leverages large-scale human motion data to produce more natural, coordinated movements.

The team was also invited to perform at the Games’ opening ceremony, where its robot rallied with Olympic and world table tennis champion DING Ning, showcasing SMASH’s capabilities in highly dynamic human–robot interaction.

Professor Luo said, “Hong Kong provides fertile ground for the development of artificial intelligence, supported by a strong concentration of talent. I hope HKU students will continue to lead and advance the development of embodied AI technologies across the Greater Bay Area.”

The team will continue to advance humanoid robotics through high-dynamic interaction research, using table tennis as a testbed to explore broader real-world applications and future deployment.

Media Enquiries:

Please contact the School of Computing and Data Science (email: cdsnews@hku.hk).

About Professor Ping LUO

Professor Ping LUO is an Associate Director (AI Research and Tech Transfer) of the School of Computing and Data Science (CDS), The University of Hong Kong, and a principal investigator of HKU MMLab. His research focuses on computer vision, machine learning and embodied intelligence, with particular interests in developing intelligent systems that can perceive, understand and interact with complex physical environments.

 

HKU Robocon marked its first-ever victory in this international competition.

Credit

The University of Hong Kong

 

The team triumphed over university teams from 15 countries and regions, including Japan, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Credit

The University of Hong Kong

 

HKU ecologists warn that marine heatwaves pose an underestimated threat to public health

The University of Hong Kong

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The average number of days of marine heatwaves annually projected for mid-century. Image courtesy Prof. Ben Harvey.

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Credit: Prof. Ben Harvey

Researchers from the School of Biological Sciences and Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), in collaboration with Adelaide University, have called for marine heatwaves to be recognised as a public health issue.

The research, published in Nature Sustainability, highlights that marine heatwaves not only damage marine ecosystems but can also intensify extreme weather, disrupt fisheries and aquaculture, reduce seafood supplies and threaten coastal livelihoods, ultimately posing significant risks to human physical and mental health.

How Marine Heatwaves Affect Human Health

Marine heatwaves, prolonged periods of unusually high ocean temperatures, are becoming more frequent, longer-lasting and more intense as the climate warms. While their impacts on marine ecosystems are well documented, their consequences for human health remain largely overlooked.

Key Impacts Identified

• Extreme weather: Higher ocean temperatures can contribute to more intense storms and flooding, increasing the risk of injury, death, and displacement.
• Food safety: Marine heatwaves can increase harmful algal blooms that contaminate seafood and pose health risks.
• Food security and nutrition: Damage to fisheries and aquaculture can reduce seafood supplies, particularly affecting communities that rely heavily on marine resources.
• Livelihoods and mental health: Damage to marine ecosystems and loss of income can contribute to stress, anxiety, grief and uncertainty.
• Ocean-dependent communities: The impacts are particularly relevant in Asia, where hundreds of millions of people depend on the ocean for food, livelihoods and cultural practices.

 “The devastating effects of marine heatwaves on marine ecosystems have been recognised for some time. What has been missing from the conversation is what these events mean for people. We are only just beginning to understand how these environmental impacts can have large negative effects on human health,” said Professor Bayden RUSSELL, Associate Professor of Ecology & Biodiversity and senior author of the paper.

He added: “For many people, the ocean is much more than a place for recreation. It provides food, income, cultural identity and a sense of place.” These close connections to the ocean mean that damage to marine ecosystems can also have significant psychological impacts. “When marine heatwaves damage coral reefs, fisheries and other marine resources, communities can experience grief, anxiety and uncertainty about the future. These mental health impacts are likely to be substantial, but they remain largely unrecognised and understudied.”

The researchers argue that governments and public health agencies should begin treating marine heatwaves much like land-based heatwaves. This includes incorporating marine heatwave forecasts into public health planning, considering health impacts in marine and coastal management, and strengthening collaboration between ocean scientists, health authorities and resource managers.

Dr Laura FALKENBERG of Adelaide University said: “Recognising these health impacts is the first step towards better protecting communities.”

“As marine heatwaves become increasingly common, we need to move from simply documenting impacts after they occur to preparing communities in advance. Better planning today can reduce future health risks.”

For details of the research, please refer to the journal paper “Recognising the human health impacts of marine heatwaves”.  

Media Enquiries:
Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong
Tel: +852 3917 5286
Email: cindycst@hku.hk

Image download and caption: https://www.scifac.hku.hk/press

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Journal

Nature Sustainability

DOI

10.1038/s41893-026-01892-x 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Recognizing the human health impacts of marine heatwaves

 

Healthy lifestyle in middle age adds happiness alongside longevity to old age

University of Helsinki

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University of Helsinki researchers followed almost 2,700 Finnish men for over 50 years, until the end of their lives. The monitoring began in the 1960s and 1970s, when the men were on average 42 years old and healthy.

The researchers measured five factors contributing to cardiovascular risk: smoking, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose. The better the values for each factor, the longer the men lived.

Of the men with positive values for all five factors, 42% reached the age of 90. The corresponding figure for those with poor values for all five was 7%.

Not just more years, but better ones

The study did not stop at measuring lifespan. In 2007, when the surviving research subjects averaged 79 years of age, they were asked about their functional capacity, happiness and quality of life.

At the same time, their degree of frailty was also assessed. Of those for whom all five factors were positive at a younger age, only 2% were frail in old age. The same group also experienced more happiness and psychological wellbeing than others. Of those with poor values for all factors, a quarter were frail.

“The common adage is that you either live a short and pleasant life, or a long and unpleasant one. This study indicates that healthy lifestyles can add both years and functional capacity to your life,” says Professor Emeritus Timo Strandberg from the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Medicine and HUS Helsinki University Hospital, who headed the study.

Common solutions

Strandberg emphasises the simplicity of the indicators used in the study and their applicability to anyone’s everyday life.

“The body mass index, smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose can all be measured and addressed. If not through lifestyle choices, then with safe and mostly inexpensive drugs,” Strandberg says.

What makes this study distinct is its duration – the men were followed throughout adulthood.

“We’ve long been interested in this question, while in many places the topic is only now attracting attention. This study’s strength was in a follow-up that extended to the end of life,” Strandberg notes.

As the population ages, the need for care increases. According to Strandberg, the study provides new motivation for addressing risk factors even before problems arise.

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Journal

European Journal of Preventive Cardiology

DOI

10.1093/eurjpc/zwag429 

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Low cardiovascular risk in early midlife and quality of life in old age: a life-long follow-up study in men

 

Incidence of acute kidney injury is higher in summer, especially among young people in Japan

Large-scale health insurance data reveal a seasonal pattern in community-acquired acute kidney injury, highlighting the importance of summer prevention

Kumamoto University

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Compared to February, the adjusted incidence rate was significantly higher from June through September, reaching its peak in July and June with an adjusted incidence rate ratio of 1.19. Younger populations, particularly those aged 19 years and younger, showed a larger seasonal increase in AKI incidence during the summer peak.

Adapted from Sakazaki et al., Scientific Reports (2026), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

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Credit: Kumamoto University

A new study led by researchers at Kumamoto University has found a clear seasonal pattern in community-acquired acute kidney injury (AKI) among people younger than 65 years in Japan, with incidence peaking in summer and showing a larger seasonal increase among those aged 19 years and younger.

AKI is a sudden decline in kidney function that can become serious enough to require hospitalization or dialysis. While AKI is often associated with hospitalized patients, it can also develop in the community, including among people who are otherwise living their everyday lives and visiting outpatient clinics.

The research team analyzed health insurance claims data from approximately 4.28 million people under 65 years of age in Japan, covering the period from August 2016 through July 2018. Among them, 20,634 new cases of community-acquired AKI were identified.

The incidence of AKI increased from June to July and reached its highest level in July. Compared with February, the adjusted incidence rate in July was 19% higher (IRR 1.19). Among people aged 0–19 years, the July incidence rate was approximately 48% higher than in February (IRR 1.48), indicating a larger seasonal variation in this age group.

“Summer is a season when dehydration and heat-related health problems can become more common,” said Yuka Sakazaki, the study’ first author and a doctoral student at Kumamoto University’s Graduate School of Medical Sciences. “Our findings suggest that seasonal factors may be important to consider in AKI prevention, especially given the larger seasonal variation observed among younger people.” added Yuki Kondo, the corresponding author and an Associate Professor at Kumamoto University’s Faculty of Life Sciences.

The researchers caution that the study does not establish that high temperatures or dehydration directly cause AKI. The claims database did not contain laboratory measurements or detailed information on individual heat exposure, temperature, humidity, or other environmental conditions. In addition, AKI was identified using diagnosis codes in insurance claims rather than laboratory-based diagnostic criteria, so differences in diagnosis or coding across seasons cannot be completely excluded.

Future research combining clinical and laboratory data with meteorological information may help clarify how environmental factors contribute to seasonal changes in AKI risk and support the development of prevention strategies tailored to the summer season.

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Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-026-61190-6 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Seasonality of acute kidney injury incidence in Japanese outpatient

 

More injuries following the policy change of body-checking in women’s ice hockey – but the players are positive about the change

Lund University

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Amanda Lahti

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Credit: Ingemar Hultquist, Lund University

Four years after body-checking was introduced, have injury rates in Swedish women’s ice hockey changed? Yes, markedly. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now been able to show that, in the short term, the number of insurance claims almost doubled.

In 2022, body-checking became permissible in the SDHL, the top-flight Swedish women’s ice hockey league. Sweden was thus the first country in the world to make this change, and the research is being followed with great interest by other ice hockey nations. Both the US and Canada have also recently started to allow body-checking and are keen to know what impact the change has had in Sweden. There are now two recent research studies from Lund University.

One of the studies is based on insurance data covering six seasons, in which all ice hockey-related injuries that led to a claim under the players’ licence insurance were recorded by the insurance company. During the first season after body-checking was introduced, the number of reported injuries soared. Having stood at 6.6 injuries per 1,000 player-hours in the season before the rule change, the figure rose to 16.7 injuries per 1,000 player-hours the following season. The number of injuries then fell slightly, but the average for the six seasons studied was 11. The average for the corresponding period before the rule change was 6.0.

“Injury rates may continue to fall as players adapt to the physical nature of play, but that remains to be seen. It is not possible to say with certainty that the higher injury figures are due to body-checking, but we speculate that this is the case, as everything else remains the same compared with previous seasons,” says Amanda Lahti, a researcher at the Centre for Primary Care Research, Lund University, and the lead author of both studies and the primary investigator (PI) for the research project.

Shoulder and knee injuries were the most common claims handled by the insurance company, which Amanda Lahti speculates may be because players take body-checks against the boards with their arms outstretched. According to her, the fact that the figures are levelling off could possibly be interpreted as the players learning to play a more physical game over time.

The second study identified injuries that resulted in absence from training or matches and were added to an injury register by the medical staff in the league. A total of 46 match-related injuries were recorded. The results show that body-checking is now the most frequent cause of injury and is often associated with concussion, the most common type of injury in the league. The study also showed that players often continued to play in the games despite being injured. In six out of ten cases of concussion, the player remained on the ice. Most of the injuries, including concussions, occurred in the third period, towards the end of the game. This could suggest that fatigue increases the risk of injury.

“Perhaps it’s not just a case of tiredness after a tough match. As female ice hockey players generally earn less than their male counterparts, many combine elite sport with paid work, which can limit their recovery and contribute to increased fatigue. I would like to go on and gain a deeper understanding of how sleep and recovery might affect the risk of injury,” says Amanda Lahti.

She emphasises that the study tracked the development of injuries over only two years and is based on a relatively small number of injury incidents, which means that the results should be interpreted with some caution. Nevertheless, the findings raise questions and form the basis for further research. Female athletes should not be regarded as “little men”. Biological, anatomical and social differences influence the risk of sports injuries. Yet only a small proportion of sports medicine research is carried out on women.

“This makes women-specific studies essential. Although this study has its limitations, it provides important insights and baseline data for the continued monitoring of the cohort and the progression of injuries over time,” says Amanda Lahti. As a specialist in general medicine and a sports doctor, she works on the prevention of injuries on a daily basis.

The results also show that the players themselves remain positive about body-checking – and that they do not believe it leads to more injuries.

“I will be examining this discrepancy between the players’ own perceptions and our objective injury data in more detail in a forthcoming paper. Amongst other things, I have sought the help of a gender researcher from the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to gain a better understanding of this,” says Amanda Lahti.

Hopefully, at least some of her questions will eventually be answered. She recently received a grant of SEK 1.2 million from the Dr P Håkansson Foundation.

“This is a very significant grant, which I hope will help generate more knowledge that promotes women’s participation in sport at both recreational and elite levels, as well as contributing to the development of the sport,” says Amanda Lahti. 

Related publication
Injury Incidence Before and After the Introduction of Body Checking in Elite Women’s Ice Hockey: A Six-Season Nationwide Insurance-Based Study, Sports Medicine – Open
DOI: 10.1186/s40798-026-01063-4 

 

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Journal

European Journal of Sport Science

DOI

10.1002/ejsc.70245 

Method of Research

Case study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Epidemiology of Injuries in Elite Female Ice Hockey Players Allowed Body Checking: A Two-Year Prospective Cohort Study