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“Look, the robot referee has raised its hand, our team has won!” At the scene of the robot team competition during the Hangzhou Primary and Secondary School Science and Technology Festival, a humanoid robot clearly indicated the match result, causing cheers from the young contestants. On the afternoon of November 19, 222 primary school robot contestants from across the city stepped into the arena and were treated to a lively AI introductory lesson.
The robot activities at this science and technology festival lasted for two days starting from the 18th, with a total of 673 primary and secondary school students qualifying for the city competition through district and county selections, competing in individual and team events.
At the entrance of the competition venue, a set of illustrated educational panels on artificial intelligence attracted many contestants to stop and take a look. From the basic principles of image recognition to the working mechanism of the “AI referee” in the arena, the panels unveiled the mysteries of artificial intelligence in a way that children could understand. The most eye-catching was the AI referee on the field, which could accurately judge scoring, showcasing not only the original form of AI robots but also allowing children to intuitively feel the close connection between what they learn and cutting-edge technology.
From Panels to the Arena: An Immersive AI Experience
“I used to think robots just performed actions according to a program,” one young contestant excitedly said after visiting the exhibition, “Today I learned that robots can also be referees, they can ‘understand’ the game, this is so cool!”
This carefully designed pre-competition experience was aimed at creating a comprehensive atmosphere for artificial intelligence education. Ye Sheng, head of the technology department at the Hangzhou Youth Activity Center, stated: “We want children to not only compete in technology during the competition but also understand the principles behind the technology. Through educational panels, AI referee demonstrations, and interactions with humanoid robots, we hope they can truly experience artificial intelligence in practice.”
AIReferee on Duty, Scoring Count Accurate to the Millisecond
When the competition officially began, the power of technology was fully displayed on the field. At the robot team competition, every time a ping pong ball accurately landed in the scoring area, the AI referee system would complete the recognition and judgment in milliseconds, updating the score in real-time.
This “AI referee” system collects data through high-frame-rate cameras and utilizes AI image recognition technology, as if installing a pair of “smart eyes” on the field. It can accurately capture the trajectory of each ball, automatically distinguish the color of the balls, ensuring that every score is accurately recorded.
“The most tense moment is when multiple balls almost simultaneously enter the basket,” said the chief referee of this competition, Xu Songyan. “Now with the reliable assistant of the AI referee, we can not only ensure the accuracy of the judgments but also focus our energy on observing the students’ on-site strategies and team cooperation.”
Policy Guidance: Enhancing Science Education Amidst the ‘Double Reduction’ Policy
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to enhance science education amidst the ‘double reduction’ policy in education. The recent Ministry of Education’s “Opinions on Strengthening Science and Technology Education for Primary and Secondary School Students” has pointed the direction for youth science education. The 2025 Hangzhou Primary and Secondary School Science and Technology Festival is a vivid “Hangzhou practice” of this additive approach.
“The ‘addition’ we understand does not add burden, but adds scenarios, perspectives, and core competencies for the future,” said Ye Sheng. “When AI is not just an object of study but also a referee in competitions, a topic in debates, and a tool in creation, children understand how technology interacts with society in a full-scenario context.”
The ‘AI Concerto’ at the Science and Technology Festival
This practice of AI-enabled education is resonating throughout various corners of the science and technology festival:
In the aviation model and vehicle model competition venues, the AI electronic referee system achieves precise electronic timing by capturing real-time transmission signals, significantly improving officiating efficiency;
In the semi-finals of the high school science debate competition, AI became the focal point of discussion, with 16 high school teams engaging in deep exchanges on the topic of “Will the application of artificial intelligence limit human creative thinking?”;
In the AI designer competition, children used AIGC technology to redraw the Southern Song Dynasty Hangzhou and design future landmarks, where the thousand-year-old Song Dynasty charm and future visions intertwined under the intelligent brush;
Even more noteworthy is the introduction of the “AI Intelligent Review” system, where the technical team trains models using competition data to accumulate experience for the future intelligent evaluation system of the science and technology festival.
Technology as a Bridge, Sowing the Future
A student at the scene expressed, “Today I realized that the robot I programmed and the robot that served as a referee are both different manifestations of artificial intelligence. This makes me look forward to what I will learn in the future even more.”
An engineer from Yushu Technology stated that this public welfare collaboration has far-reaching significance: “We hope that through such popular science practices, children can understand what real artificial intelligence robots look like.”
From the precise officiating on the robot competition field to the intellectual exchanges in the debate competition, from the dialogue between ancient and modern under the AI brush to the electronic timing on the model track—under the promotion of the Hangzhou Youth Activity Center, artificial intelligence has quietly integrated into the bloodstream of science education. Seeds of science are being awakened and nurtured in this comprehensive technological feast, waiting to grow into towering trees that support the country’s future technological innovation.
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Contributed by: Technology DepartmentEdited by: Office– Scan to follow us –