The "2024 Hualien County Chung Hwa Pulp 4th Charity Cup AI Autonomous Vehicle Robot Competition," co-hosted by the Hualien County Government and Chung Hwa Pulp Corporation, was grandly held on Saturday, May 25, 2024, at the Student Activity Center of the National Hualien Industrial Vocational High School. The competition brought together over 400 teachers and students from the eastern region in Hualien. To align with the advent of the AI era, this year's event featured a competition themed around artificial intelligence programming, allowing teachers and students to experience innovative events that integrate AI with educational applications. Distinguished guests, including Hualien County Mayor Hsu Chen-Wei, Principal Huang Hung-Ying of Hualien Industrial High School, Chairman Huang Kun-Hsiung of Chung Hwa Pulp, and Plant Manager Chiu Yi-Sheng, attended to cheer on the young participants.
The Hualien County Government established the Hualien Smart Education Center in 2019 to actively promote programming courses for schoolchildren. By combining educational resources from local high schools and colleges, they host national competitions every year, such as drone competitions, autonomous vehicle competitions, and programming competitions, aiming to motivate students to learn and showcase their achievements. This year's competition events included "Maze Guardian Battle," "Sumo Wrestling Contest," "Track-Following Task Competition," and "AI Intelligent Sumo Battle." Mayor Hsu Chen-Wei stated that the Charity Cup AI Autonomous Vehicle Robot Competition is not only a technological competition but also a platform for learning, growth, and exchange. This open and open-source competition format opens a door for students to the field of technology.
Chung Hwa Pulp Corporation highly agrees with the Hualien County Government's policy of actively promoting education that encourages young students to solve problems using programming and computational thinking. Chairman Huang Kun-Hsiung stated that as a local enterprise, Chung Hwa Pulp has long supported activities that promote neighborhood prosperity and actively cultivate future technology talent, providing Hualien youth with a quality smart learning base that continues to use technological power to create future trends. This competition also brought together many volunteers from Chung Hwa Pulp, who participated by setting up papermaking science posters and photo props for all ages to enjoy. The enthusiastic participation of employees and interactions with teachers and students demonstrated the vision of local enterprises in combining industry, government, and academia to promote public welfare, thereby driving a positive cycle of sustainable business operations and urban-rural development.
AI technology is sweeping the globe, changing our way of life. We hope to use this competition to guide students to gain a deeper understanding of AI technology's applications in forestry, agriculture, environmental protection, search and rescue, and more. The goal is to create a future full of opportunities for students, equipping them with knowledge and skills, and to cultivate future AI technology talent for Taiwan's development. In today's world, where AI is a focal point, developing students' logical and computational thinking is particularly important. Students manipulate autonomous vehicles through various obstacles during the competition, seeking solutions to problems. We look forward to Hualien becoming a center for technological education in eastern Taiwan, allowing students to stand on the shoulders of giants and meet the challenges of the future AI era.