In Nanjing, eastern China, the nation’s first secondary-school robotics league brought together 12 junior and senior high school teams for tense matches and technical defences. Over a five-month season, student-built metal robots faced off on the field, while teams clearly explained their engineering processes during formal presentations.

The competition blends mechanics, electronics, and programming, moving students from classroom theory into hands-on application. Matches and design defences jointly test practical skills, systems thinking, and problem-solving, giving judges a full picture of each team’s technical ability and creativity.

One participating student said the mix of designing and debugging felt like creating a complex work of art, requiring strict logic and a sense of structural beauty. The experience convinced the student to pursue further study in intelligent design and manufacturing, aiming to work at the intersection of engineering and art.