Entering the robot training camp for international competitions

Winning the national championship of Vietnam Robocon in mid-June 2025, students of team LH-UDS from Lac Hong University are preparing for the upcoming final round.

Bui Xuan Nguyen carefully wraps copper wires around the motor core - Photo: TRONG NHAN

Coming to Lac Hong University in early July, it is easy to see the bustling atmosphere in a familiar corner of the campus, where the robots of students are preparing to enter the international robocon arena are being trained.

Members of the LH-UDS robocon team diligently adjusted the final details for the two robot "athletes" before leaving for Mongolia to compete.

Attention to detail

The group was divided into many small groups, each person in a corner, each corner in a stage. Four mechanics were busy disassembling and assembling the frame, welding machine parts, adjusting the wheels and joints to make them smooth. Two were in charge of programming, two were in charge of winding the motor, two were in charge of the electrical part - the circuit board and the remaining two were in charge of the control system, calibrating the handle according to the user's actions.

Bui Xuan Nguyen is carefully winding copper wires onto the motor core. This job looks simple but requires extreme meticulousness. The wires must be even, the distance between the windings must be correct. The windings will be adjusted to suit the designed speed for the robot.

"Just a few millimeters of deviation will cause the motor to rotate unstably, affecting the robot's speed or throwing force," Nguyen explained as he worked. These copper wires are the core part that helps control the motor's speed, and in a competition like robocon, even a hundredth of a second can make a difference.

Next to him, Man Ky Phuc was sitting in front of his laptop screen, his eyes glued to each line of code. They were diligently updating the robot control program to match the new changes in the mechanical parts.

"In addition, the image processing algorithm has been upgraded so that the robot can scan the board and identify targets better, especially the attacking robot must accurately aim to throw the basket at each angle."

"Robot Basketball"

Captain Lam Quoc Tho introduces the new design for the passing part of the defensive robot

In 2025, robocon brings a completely new playground with a basketball-related theme. Instead of traditional mechanical challenges such as climbing hills, passing the ball or shooting hoops, this year the teams will enter a real "robot basketball" match, where two robots, one offensive and one defensive, must coordinate in harmony to score points.

During the limited time of the game, the attacking robot has the task of shooting the ball into the basket from different scoring positions (2, 3 or 7 points), while the opponent's defending robot will try to block it.

Lam Quoc Tho - captain of LH‑UDS - said that in the matches, he will be in charge of controlling the defensive robot. This robot must be extremely fast and flexible to block the opponent's ball. If it is just a little slow, it will lose immediately.

After winning the national championship, the team sat down to find ways to upgrade both robots - the attacker and the defender. For the attacker, the team decided to add a wheel, from three to four wheels to improve maneuverability. However, the problem was not simple because according to the regulations, the total weight of both robots must not exceed 50kg.

"If we want to add something, we have to remove something else, so we changed the design of the ball passing part of the defensive robot," Tho said.

Specifically, the ball-passing part, which used to be a separate, quite heavy module, was replaced by a flexible elastic band, which significantly reduced the weight and also increased flexibility. The team is racing against time to test the actual performance after the improvement, to see if any errors arise so that they can make adjustments before the deadline of July 28, the day the robot must be sent to the organizing committee for transportation to Mongolia.

"After sending the robot, we have to wait until the end of August to meet again at the international competition. So now is the time to do our best so we won't have any regrets," Tho said.

Man Ky Phuc diligently edits code and upgrades the robot's performance.

Lac Hong University's LH-UDS team is preparing to enter the ABU Robocon final round in Mongolia - Photo: TRONG NHAN

Playground for engineering and technology students

The ABU Robocon (Asia‑Pacific Robot Contest) organized by the Asia- Pacific Broadcasting Union since 2002 is the leading playground for engineering and technology students from countries in the region.

Each year, countries organize a unique competition theme, requiring self-designed robots to perform a series of highly technical and tactical tasks. The title of the current ABU Robocon champion belongs to The Chinese University of Hong Kong team with an impressive victory in the Quang Ninh - Vietnam season held in August 2024.

Vietnam has won this tournament seven times in 2002, 2004, 2006 (University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City National University), 2014, 2017, 2018 (Lac Hong University) and 2015 ( Hung Yen University of Technical Education).

Highly competitive

MSc. Nguyen Dinh Dai, lecturer of the Faculty of Mechatronics and Electronics at Lac Hong University, was impressed with the students' working spirit during this year's exam season. "They spent almost all their time on the robot. There were days when they were in the workshop from early morning to late at night, only taking a short break at noon before continuing to fine-tune every detail," he said.

Regarding the upcoming ABU Robocon finals in Mongolia, Mr. Dai assessed that this year is a highly competitive season. Teams from Japan, China, Hong Kong, etc. are always formidable opponents. These teams have a very strong technological foundation, especially in image processing. Their robots analyze quickly, recognize baskets accurately, so the hit rate is very high.

WEIGHT

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vao-lo-luyen-robot-di-thi-quoc-te-20250715102055545.htm