By KHT Staff. Images via VIS International Experimental Education.
TAIPEI — A Taiwanese student robotics team has received limited attention in English-language media, but its story is worth a closer look.
Students from VIS International Experimental Education (VIS國際實驗教育) traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, for the FIRST Tech Challenge Istanbul Premier Event, only to have their robot, tools, and essential equipment held by customs after arrival.
The team, FTC Team 32760 VIS MARS, did not withdraw.
Instead, students borrowed discarded parts and basic tools from other teams, rebuilt a working robot with zip ties and electrical tape, adjusted their competition strategy, and went on to win four qualification matches, the school said.
The team also set the event’s highest score of the day, defeating an opposing alliance 154-117 in one match, according to the school.
The school said the customs issue was linked to Taiwan not being part of the ATA Carnet system, an international customs document that allows temporary duty-free admission of professional equipment and other goods.
After the equipment was held, students, coaches, and parents spent about 72 hours trying to recover it through contacts in Turkey, the Netherlands, and Greece, but were told the equipment could only be reclaimed when leaving the country, the school said.
That left the students at the competition without the robot they had designed and prepared.
The team collected spare and discarded parts from other international teams and assembled a replacement robot in time to pass inspection. The makeshift robot lacked much of the original machine’s scoring ability, so the students changed tactics.
Rather than focusing on offense, the team shifted to defense, analyzing opponents’ movement and protecting space for alliance partners while avoiding penalties.
The approach helped the team win four consecutive qualification matches.
Team captain Shang Yang-ruei (商泱瑞), also known as Ray, said the experience showed that the most important tool was not the equipment held in storage, but the ability to rethink a problem and find a solution.
“The strongest weapon was never the parts locked in a warehouse, but the mind that can rethink, adapt, and solve problems no matter what happens,” he said in a statement released by the school.
VIS said the experience reflected the school’s emphasis on project-based learning, teamwork, and problem-solving under real-world pressure.
The school also thanked Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (外交部), Taiwan’s representative office in Turkey, coaches, parents, and international teams that helped the students during the competition.
FIRST Tech Challenge is a robotics program for students in grades 7 to 12, in which teams design, build and program robots for competition.
