Jointly organised by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and CETIC Foundation, the MeckUP Quest National Finals - Orbit Odyssey Hackathon - took place from 19 to 22 August 2026 at HKU Zhangjiang Base in Shanghai.
As Asia's first XRP Robotics × AI competition, the MeckUP Quest series brought together more than 600 students and teachers from over 20 cities across Asia. Following fiercely contested regional qualifying rounds, 16 junior and senior secondary school teams earned their places in the National Finals.
In the days leading up to the finals, teams fine-tuned every aspect of their projects, from robot construction and algorithm optimisation to their final presentations. An intensive pre-competition training programme provided the final push, taking students from online preparatory learning to hands-on practice, from hardware assembly to repeated testing and debugging, and from booth setup to mock presentations. By the end of the programme, the young competitors were ready for the final showdown.
Expert Mentorship from Three Leading Universities
The training programme was jointly supported by three leading universities-HKU, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) and Beijing Normal University (BNU)-with team-based instruction and targeted mentoring drawing on each institution's expertise.
HKU experts guided students through core technologies such as visual navigation and autonomous decision-making, introducing them to advanced AI engineering practices and broadening their international academic perspectives. Mentors from HIT led the hands-on training, helping teams overcome technical challenges at every stage, from hardware assembly to programming and debugging. The BNU team contributed an AI literacy framework, guiding students in articulating the value of their projects and putting social responsibility into practice. This encouraged an approach to innovation that combined critical thinking with an awareness of human needs. Together, the three universities provided comprehensive support for the participating teams.
All In for the Final Challenge
Over three days of intensive training, all 16 teams devoted themselves to the final preparations, completing final rounds of software testing and debugging, setting up their exhibition booths and rehearsing their presentations. Teams calibrated their autonomous navigation and AI vision systems and repeatedly practised competition tasks under simulated match conditions.
Hardware development, creative design and presentation preparation progressed in parallel, with teams refining their display boards and interactive props. All participants completed a two-minute mock presentation, bringing their work together into complete technological solutions that demonstrated strong engineering skills and ingenuity.
National Finals Begin with an AI Robotics Showdown
On 22 August, the National Finals got underway at HKU Zhangjiang Base, where more than 100 student finalists gathered for the ultimate AI robotics challenge.
The competition presented teams with a demanding mission scenario: a rocket on a critical mission had crash-landed on a distant planet, leaving a "Source Part" essential to the mission's success among the wreckage. Teams had to program an XRP robot to carry the component through a debris field, use AI to autonomously identify the recovery zone, re-establish coordination with an orbiting space station and complete all the tasks required to return to orbit.
Using the XRP robotics platform and an Intel single-board computer, participants were responsible for the entire development process, from mechanical assembly and motion control to AI vision training and hardware-software integration. They had to independently overcome complex technical challenges involving debris recognition, trajectory calibration and coordinated recovery with the space station.
Judging covered autonomous AI performance, system integration, practical programming skills, teamwork and the effectiveness of project presentations, putting each team's all-round engineering capabilities to the test.
Celebrating the Next Generation of Innovators
Following a fiercely contested competition, all awards were presented to the most outstanding team of a particular aspects. Notably, creative designs from the competition will feature in official promotional materials for the 2027 MeckUP International Competition, bringing this new generation's ideas to a global audience.
Congratulations to all the award-winning teams on their achievements, earned through technical skills, dedication and perseverance. Beyond trophies and applause, the event gave these young innovators opportunities to grow and build lasting friendships, creating unforgettable memories at HKU Zhangjiang Base.
We look forward to seeing them continue to explore, innovate and make their mark in science and technology.
