The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) promotes cutting-edge research, and at the foundation of scientific research are instrumentation technology and talented researchers. NARLabs' Taiwan Instrument Research Institute (TIRI), in implementing NSTC policy, has built an interdisciplinary, integrated R&D service platform for instrument technology to help develop custom-made, special instrumentation required for frontier research by institutes in various fields. At the same time, TIRI is also devoted to fostering talented instrument creators. For this reason, TIRI, in collaboration with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Taiwan Section, is organizing the NARLabs Smart Machinery Competition as part of ASME's Student Professional Development Conference (SPDC). Registration is open from now until March 1, 2023. The competition will be held on March 11, 2023 at the Sun Yat-sen University College of Engineering (No. 70, Lianhai Road, Gushan District, Kaohsiung City), and winners can receive a maximum prize of NT$50,000. Students from college-level institutions and universities who are interested in smart machinery are welcome to come and challenge their creativity and hands-on skills.
The NARLabs Smart Machinery Competition is separated into two categories, the first of which is a speech competition. Any speech topic may be chosen, as long as it is related to machines. However, speeches must be delivered entirely in English. The speech competition will focus on students' ability to analyze and share their research on machine-related topics. Students may present their research findings from during the school year, pROViding an opportunity for them to enhance their skills to deliver a presentation in an international context.
The second category of the NARLabs Smart Machinery Competition is the design competition, the theme of which is set by ASME. This year's theme is "Harvesting the Sun and Wind Again," an advanced application of the 2021 theme to collect renewable solar and wind energy. This time, the competition course has been changed from flat to sloping to make it more interesting and challenging. Teams must build a robotic device that collects and uses solar and/or wind energy to transport weights from a loading zone to a sloped unloading platform within a set time frame. Teams can set their own route and decide how many trips the robot will make to transport the weights, as well as how much weight it carries at once. In addition to the robot's speed and carrying capacity, teams also need to consider how to effectively store and utilize wind and/or solar energy to power the robot forward in order to get a high score. This challenge will put students' abilities in machine design and applying scientific knowledge to the test.
The NARLabs Smart Machinery Competition pROVides a platform for communication regarding instrumentation technology in Taiwan and encourages students to develop creative ideas and functionally integrate machine technology. At this international competition, students will compete with machine experts from other schools and enhance their international competitiveness when it comes to current trends. For many years, TIRI has been nurturing the next generation of talented instrumentation researchers, serving as a driving force to upgrade industry technology and consolidate international competitiveness. TIRI invites business teams to nurture talented individuals with passion for instrumentation technology from the ground up, producing even greater benefits to society.
For more information, please visit https://www.tiri.narl.org.tw/ASME and the ASME SPDC Facebook page.
