25 IN FOCUS Leslie Lee and his teammate drive their knowledge forward. Leslie LEE Chun-Hei BEng in Computer Engineering ( ) I became fascinated by robots as a child when I saw futuristic movies where incredible advanced machines would be shown helping people have a better life. From those lms, I began to see how robots could serve a useful role in society, taking on routine or dangerous manual jobs such as household chores or construction work, and allowing people more flexibility and a higher quality of life. Since then it has been my dream to build a robot that can bene t the world. A er high school, I applied to the School of Engineering as the HKUST Robotics Team is widely known to be one of the strongest in Hong Kong, possessing extensive knowledge of robotics development and winning many external competitions. In my two years as a member of the team, I have been involved in the smart car competition, which focuses on developing an intelligent autonomous vehicle. I was interested in this kind of robotics technology as it is likely to assist smart city development. The introduction of autonomous transportation, for example, should lead to greater e ciency, easing tra c congestion. It should also improve safety, as accidents are o en caused by human error. Initially, I didn’t know much about constructing a smart car, but with senior students’ help, and my own research, I learned the basic so ware, hardware, and mechanical design needed. These three aspects represent the soul, heart and architectural body of such a robot; and to build a fully functioning vehicle, I knew none could be ignored. However, in my initial year, there wasn’t time to learn every aspect. Members of the team then divided the tasks (mine was hardware) and rigorously studied and trialed what we learned in our respective areas. Later, we pooled our understanding and successfully worked together to complete our entry for the competition. A er this rst event, I discovered some flaws with my approach to learning. I realized that stopping my research a er nding out the basics led to mistakes while building the robot, as my knowledge wasn’t deep enough. A er that, I changed my strategy, trying to dig out every piece of helpful information and not stopping until I thoroughly understood the material. In the next competition, we won a rst class award, becoming the rst team in Hong Kong to do so in this event! I now believe one day I will be able to build my dream robot to save people in dangerous occupations from undertaking such work. Smart Car Leslie wants to build more robots in the future. First Class Award Quad-Wheel Photoelectric Category (NXP Cup Intelligent Car Racing Competition (South China Region) )
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