The 5th China Postgraduate Robot Innovation and Design Competition, hosted by HNU, was held on August 19 and 20. A total of 1,177 teams from nearly 240 higher education and research institutions registered for participation. After a preliminary contest and reviews, 288 teams from 96 institutions including Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, and Shanghai Jiaotong University gained the access to the finals.

After a two-day competition of works display and team presentation, HNU won two first prizes, two second prizes, and three third prizes, placing second overall in the national rankings. The Special S-shaped Arm Robot Innovation Team from the College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering team finished third in the national finals. 

The Special S-shaped Arm Robot Innovation Team consists of four postgraduate members: Wang Zhe, Liu Chang, Tang Jieqiong, and Liao Zhizhong, with Jiang Chao and Wan Detao as their instructors. 

Based on the needs of flexibility and spatial adaptability, as well as the principle of bionics, the team developed an intelligent robot with a bionic s-shaped arm from the aspects of structural design, irradiation resistance, and reliability design. The robot has the potential to address challenges in nuclear facilities, such as narrow and unstructured environments, high temperatures, and strong radiation. Some of its key technical indicators have reached the leading level domestically.

The China Postgraduate Robotic Innovation and Design Competition is one of the major events of the "China Postgraduate Innovation and Practice Competition Series". It was guided by the Department of Degree Management and Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Education, sponsored by the Chinese Society for Degree Management and Postgraduate Education and the Youth Science and Technology Center of the China Association for Science and Technology, and co-organized by the Professional Committee of Intelligent Robotic of the Chinese Association of Artificial Intelligence, the Robotics Institution of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, the Professional Committee of Robotics of the Chinese Society of Astronautics, and the Technical Committee of Robotics of the Chinese Association of Automation.

The Changsha Municipal Government has provided participating students with an "innovation and entrepreneurship gift package." This package includes various policies aimed at supporting and facilitating the settlement, internship, employment, and entrepreneurship of young talents in Changsha. Subsidies, rewards, and loans will be provided, with a cap of 500,000 CNY of funds and five million CNY of loans for start-ups.

The second runner-up.

At the finals.