Source: School of Electronics and Communication Engineering
Written by: Zhou Yongkun
Translated by: Wu Suizhen
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

The 13th International Underwater Robot Competition (URC) kicked off in Qingdao International Expo Center on September 22. There were 11 categories and 36 subjects in the competition, as nearly 400 teams of participants from nearly 60 universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Naval University of Engineering, and Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), actively competed for awards. SYSU students won one first prize and one third prize in the contest.


Two teams from SYSU’s School of Electronics and Communication Engineering took part in the Oil Pipeline Routing Inspection Technical Challenge (Shallow Water Group), and gave outstanding performance. Under the instruction of coaches Wang Tao and Zhou Ying, the team of 2018 students (Zhou Qinquan, Chen Ziyi and Deng Yangshun) surmounted difficulties and finished first. The team of 2017 students (Deng Junyuan, Cai Guiquan and Zeng Shuya) also came third in the heated competition with the help of their coaches Wang Wei and Rao Bin. What’s more, Wang Tao and Zhou Ying received the Outstanding Instructor Award.

There is no doubt that the honor came with dedication of the teachers as well as hard work of the students. With concerted efforts, they got through all the difficulties from the initial preparation to the final competition. Eventually, participants from SYSU proved that they well deserved the hard-earned awards.

The International Underwater Robot Competition (URC), which was initiated in China, has been successfully held for twelve times since 2008. Greeted with warm response from both participants and the general public, it has gradually become a major stage for displaying the R&D, production and application of underwater robot technology across the world, promoting mutual learning and friendship.