NUK Sustainability Report

   
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2026-09-03

The National University of Kaohsiung (NUK), in collaboration with the Taoyuan Sianyi Charity and Culture Foundation, officially opened the “Tech Treasure CAGEBOT AI Hands-On Learning Hub Classroom” on September 3. Building on years of collaboration in autonomous vehicle instruction, 3D track development, and robotics competitions, the partners have transformed these accumulated achievements into a permanent hands-on learning space on campus.

The new hub features line-following autonomous vehicles, LiDAR maze robots, and semiconductor and science education kits. The opening was accompanied by workshops on autonomous vehicle making and maze robot applications, further bringing years of technology education collaboration into practice.

NUK President Chi-Jen Chen expressed his appreciation to Sianyi Charity and Culture Foundation Chairman Feng-Chun Tsai for his long-term support of Associate Professor Chin-Chung Yu of the Department of Applied Physics, who also serves as Director of the Center for Science Education, and his team. Together, they have extended technology education resources to the K–12 sector through autonomous vehicle camps, equipment and 3D track donations, cross-school collaboration, competitions, and science outreach.

Chen noted that the opening of the AI robotics hands-on learning hub represents another step forward in this long-term partnership. In addition to supporting NUK’s teaching, research, and student projects, the hub will connect elementary and junior high schools, senior high and vocational schools, universities, and industry partners, becoming a shared technology learning and practice environment across different stages of education.

Chairman Feng-Chun Tsai said that the foundation has long been committed to robotics education and technology talent development. Its goal is to ensure that university partnerships go beyond equipment donations and individual activities by bringing corporate technology, expertise, experience, and resources into educational settings.

Companies understand market trends, technologies, and industry needs, while universities possess research capabilities and young talent. By working together, students can encounter real-world problems and understand industry expectations while they are still learning. The new hub, Tsai said, is expected to grow from a single classroom into an environment where learning, innovation, and university-industry collaboration can take place continuously.

Hsing-Hao Wu, NUK Executive Vice President and Director of the Center for University Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development, explained that NUK has in recent years promoted the “NUK × K–12 Dream Building Together—STEM and Robotics Talent Development Program” through its Higher Education Sprout Project and University Social Responsibility initiatives.

NUK faculty and students have regularly entered elementary and secondary schools to provide instruction in line-following autonomous vehicles, programming, mechatronics, scientific inquiry, and semiconductor hands-on activities. These services have also expanded to schools along Provincial Highway 17 and to schools located between urban and rural areas, commonly referred to as “non-mountain, non-city” schools.

NUK hopes to serve as a connector of educational resources, ensuring that students have opportunities to explore AI, programming, and intelligent robotics regardless of where they live or the resources available at their schools.

Dean Yu-Min Hu of NUK’s College of Science noted that rapid advances in AI, robotics, and semiconductor technologies are fundamentally supported by basic sciences such as physics and mathematics. The new AI robotics hands-on learning hub integrates scientific principles with programming, intelligent sensing, and robotics practice, providing students with an environment where they can move from theory to application and develop scientific literacy, practical skills, and interdisciplinary thinking.

Associate Professor Chin-Chung Yu, Director of the Center for Science Education, said that his team has continued to bring NUK students into elementary schools, junior high schools, and senior high and vocational schools to promote courses in science experiments, programming, autonomous vehicles, and AI.

The new hub establishes a permanent hands-on facility at the university. During the regular semester, it can support NUK courses and student learning; during summer and winter vacations and after class, it can also host K–12 teacher workshops, courses, and competition training. This creates a two-way model in which technology education not only moves from “NUK into elementary and secondary schools,” but also enables “elementary and secondary students to come to NUK.”

One of the hub’s key teaching features is the LiDAR maze robot. Traditional line-following autonomous vehicles primarily use infrared sensors to detect routes on the ground and then control movement through programmed instructions. LiDAR robots, by contrast, use laser scanning to sense surrounding environments and distances, construct spatial information, and perform obstacle avoidance and path planning.

The hub includes a dedicated maze track where students can learn the fundamentals of intelligent robotics—including sensing, programming, control, and autonomous navigation—through hands-on operation, testing, and repeated adjustment.

The hands-on learning hub also extends beyond robotics. In recent years, Yu’s team has connected fundamental physics with semiconductor processes and developed teaching equipment covering technologies such as spin coating and digital logic circuits. The team has also collaborated with Nanzih Senior High School to develop semiconductor process inquiry and hands-on learning courses.

These teaching tools are now incorporated into the hub’s curriculum, allowing students to progress from fundamental physical phenomena to semiconductor processes, sensing and control, and AI robotics applications. This creates an interdisciplinary learning pathway from basic science to emerging technologies.

The NUK Center for Science Education and the Sianyi Charity and Culture Foundation have collaborated on K–12 robotics education since 2023. Their partnership has developed from donations of line-following autonomous vehicle kits and cross-school educational initiatives to 3D track construction, robotics competitions, digital science competitions, and science outreach. In 2025, two competitions attracted 278 teams and more than 600 students and teachers from across Taiwan.

The opening of the new hub provides a permanent base for the equipment, curriculum, and cross-school partnerships accumulated over the years, further connecting university, industry, and K–12 technology education resources.

The unveiling ceremony was also attended by Chia-Ju Liu, Chairman of the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre; Hsiao-Ting Chuang, Section Chief of the Information and International Education Division of the Kaohsiung City Government’s Education Bureau; principals from Nanzih Senior High School, Rueisiang Senior High School, Chimei Senior High School, Chung-Cheng Industrial High School, Liugui Senior High School, Keliou Junior High School, and Mituo Junior High School; as well as educators from Jiawei Elementary School and Landian Elementary School. Their participation further expanded the technology education network connecting universities, industry, and K–12 education partners.

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@College of Science · Department of Applied Physics · Center for Science Education | Activities