RoboMaster advocates the growth mindset — a belief that our intelligence or skills can always be developed regardless of our initial inexperience

Year 2 Computer Engineering student Raghav Bhardwaj has been obsessed with science fiction since he was a young boy. His dream? To bring the technologies that he sees in science fiction into the real world.

Meanwhile, NUS T-Lab Associate Scientist Mr Cheng Huimin has yearned to take part in the RoboMaster intercollegiate robotics competition since his undergraduate days.

Both their wishes have come true this past year, with the establishment of an NUS RoboMaster team for the RoboMaster 2020 Robotics Competition. Raghav took on a leading role as Team Captain while Mr Cheng served as a direct staff supervisor for the project.

This was made possible by a philanthropic gift from Electrical Engineering alumnus Mr Hoong Yik Luen (’90).

Mr Hoong believes in empowering students to expand their horizons beyond the lecture theatre so that they would be highly sought after upon graduation.

Hosted by drone tech giant DJI, the RoboMaster 2020 Robotics Competition has attracted the participation of 308 universities around the world and caught the interest of nearly 1,000 high-tech enterprises.

Its appeal lies in how it inspires innovation in the realm of engineering and robotics, presenting them through exciting robot battles.

Each participating team has to design and build robots that can perform different tasks — including aerial attack, sentry duty and engineering — and even engage in a shoot-off with its rival.

“RoboMaster presents a unique opportunity to put the theories and concepts we learnt in the classroom into practice,” said Raghav.

“Most importantly, RoboMaster advocates the growth mindset — a belief that our intelligence or skills are never fixed and can always be developed regardless of our initial inexperience,” he elaborated.

As staff supervisor, Mr Cheng agreed that the RoboMaster Robotics Competition is “much more than a technical project”. He is also grateful for Mr Hoong’s support, describing the Engineering alumnus as “visionary” for “seeing the potential of the RoboMaster competition” and the benefits that it brings to students.

“His financial support is generous, but more importantly, he gives strong mental support,” Mr Cheng added. He revealed that Mr Hoong has stood alongside the team throughout the RoboMaster journey.

Equally thankful, Raghav let on, “Mr Hoong’s support has not only enabled our team to take part in the 2020 RoboMaster season, but also has afforded our team the capacity to train the next batch of RoboMasters in time for the 2021 season.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, the NUS RoboMaster team was unable to participate in the offline competitions held in Shenzhen. The team took part in the online award selections instead and clinched the Rising Star Award.