Agile-hand competition launches, calls for entries

The 2025 Shenzhen Intelligent Robot Agile Hand Competition was announced to launch at a conference in Qianhai yesterday, inviting companies and teams to enter and showcase innovative ideas for robotic dexterous hands.

Experts, scholars, industry professionals, entrepreneurs and government officials attend the launch ceremony of the 2025 Shenzhen Intelligent Robot Agile Hand Competition in Qianhai yesterday. Courtesy of event organizer

Experts, scholars, industry professionals, entrepreneurs and government officials attended the opening event.

Data showed that Shenzhen is home to about 74,000 robot-related companies, including makers of core components, robot manufacturers and firms developing application solutions. The city has released a 2025-2027 plan to accelerate technological innovation and industrial development, aiming to convert technical breakthroughs into wide‑ranging applications.

Zhang Lin, director‑general of the Shenzhen Municipal Science, Technology and Innovation Bureau, said at the event that combining artificial intelligence with robotics will unlock vast industrial possibilities, shifting intelligent robots from merely “being able to work” to “doing delicate, skilled tasks well.”

Following Shenzhen’s inaugural agile hand competition in 2024, which attracted 104 teams worldwide, this year’s competition features two parallel tracks — a competitive track and a creative track — designed to surface innovations driven by real‑world scenarios and speed the commercialization of scientific achievements.

Yao Song, director of International Advanced Technology Application Promotion Center (Shenzhen), delivers a speech at the launch event yesterday. Photos by Chen Siqi unless otherwise stated

Yao Song, director of the International Advanced Technology Application Promotion Center (Shenzhen), explained that the competitive track focuses on realistic food‑delivery scenarios. The contest will mainly test dexterous hands for precision and stability in dynamic environments.

Yu Xiang, deputy director of the Information Center at Shenzhen Talent Group, speaks during the event yesterday. 

Yu Xiang, deputy director of the Information Center at Shenzhen Talent Group, said the creative track is intended to empower broader innovation, encouraging teams to combine applications into everyday services and other novel areas.

Yu added that the creative track places no limits on application areas — entries could include artistic uses, such as drawing or calligraphy, household solutions, consumer services, and more.

With the rules and tasks now released, contestants can begin preparing. The competition will run through several rounds, with the finals scheduled for November.

Shenzhen RUI Intelligent Control Co. Ltd., a local startup that focuses on robot core parts, won second prize in last year’s agile‑hand competition with their dexterous hand featuring 15 active degrees of freedom and 20 moving joints. Tian Bo, the company’s general manager, told Shenzhen Daily he encourages more companies and teams to enter. “Participating last year has raised our company’s industry profile and helped with funding and promotion,” said Tian.