Recently, the "Kongfu Team" – the first student robotics team at Guangdong Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT) – won the second prize in the Infantry Match of the 2025 RoboMaster University League (RMUL) (Fujian Division).

The GTIIT "Kongfu Team" was established in October 2024 under the Bio-inspired Robotic Lab, with guidance from Assoc. Prof. Liu Mingyi and Dr. Anand of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (Robotics) (ME). The team brings together robotics enthusiasts and is GTIIT's first comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and multi-year student robotics team with a core focus on technology. It is divided into four departments – Mechanical, Electronic Control, Algorithm, and Promotion & Operations – led by Liu Zijian, Chen Xintong, Peng Yibo, and Fu Suiduo, respectively.

As the founder of the robotics team, Zeng Xianle, a student from Cohort 2021 ME department, served as the team leader during the 2025 season and led the team in realizing his long-held dream of participating in the RoboMaster Competition. He gathered like-minded students and built the "Kongfu Team" from scratch. "The team's name is a homophone of 'Chinese Kung Fu' and 'Chaoshan Gongfu Tea'. Kung Fu requires daily practice, while brewing Gongfu Tea involves multiple steps – both reflect the dedication and process behind developing robots and refining technology," Xianle explained.

Robot development is a systematic project. Although members specialize in different areas such as mechanical design, electronic control, and algorithms, the process relies on integrated planning and comprehensive debugging. With less than half a year to prepare, the team members learned through trials and errors outside their demanding academic schedules. They repeatedly adjusted mechanical structures and optimized code and algorithms. In a final push before the competition, they worked late until 4 AM—barely making it on time. "It's so happy to watch the robot grow step by step. Seeing it run smoothly out there was just next-level satisfying," Xianle shared.

Equipment Check and Staging

In March this year, the newly formed "Kongfu Team", less than five months old, made its competitive debut. As a first-time participant in the Infantry Match of the RMUL 2025 (Fujian Division), the team advanced to the Top 8 in its inaugural season—a remarkable start for GTIIT's robotics journey.

In July, the role of team leader was passed to Kuang Tao, a student from Cohort 2022 ME department who had been responsible for the algorithm section during the 2025 season. Taking on the leadership role came with fresh-new feeling: "Working with such capable teammates really makes you feel 1+1>2. Things we once thought were beyond our reach now feel within our grasp—we're ready to take on new challenges!" He said the team will continue to uphold its spirit of continuous improvement and strive to compete at higher-level events in the future. At the same time, the team aims to systematically develop core members and accumulate technical expertise to maintain its competitiveness in the long run. He also wanted to translate the robotics skills and project management experience gained through competitions into motivation for students' deeper academic exploration—bringing greater engineering depth and interdisciplinary collaboration to GTIIT's robotics programs and innovation culture.

RoboMaster

The RoboMaster University Series (RMU), under the China University Robot Competition, is a platform for robotic competitions and academic exchange, specially designed for global technology enthusiasts. It attracts engineering talents with interdisciplinary abilities and showcases the possibilities of technological innovation to audiences around the globe. It requires participants to go beyond their textbooks to build a diverse fleet of robots for tactical battles. Having been held for 10 years, RMU has expanded its influence over the years, attracting more than 400 colleges and universities around the world annually.

In the 2025 season, the competition includes three events: the 3V3 Match, the Infantry Match, and the Engineer Challenge. Infantry robots face off in 1v1 combat on the battlefield, attempting to shoot the opponent's armor modules. At the end of the match, the team whose Infantry has the higher HP is declared the winner.

Text/Photos: GTIIT News & Public Affairs, Kongfu Team