JINPAO-KY Strengthens Thailand Talent Development Through Robotics Competition

Table of Contents

• You might want to know


• Main Topic


• Key Insights Table


• Afterwards...

You might want to know

• How does a student robotics competition help bridge the gap between classroom learning and industrial work?


• What makes the JINPAO-PRAKSA Automation Competition a demanding test of practical engineering?

Main Topic

JINPAO-KY, a leading precision sheet-metal manufacturer in Thailand, organized the final round of the 2026 JINPAO-PRAKSA Automation Competition as part of its effort to attract talent and strengthen cooperation between education and industry. The company, JINPAO Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (經寶精密, 5284-TW), offered more than 700,000 baht in prize money for the event. This year, Princess Sirindhorn of the Thai royal family also bestowed a royal trophy on the competition, recognition described as a significant endorsement of the company’s work in developing talent.

JINPAO Precision Chairman Kuo-Sung Chung (鍾國松) said the company’s long-term commitment to Thailand involves more than investing and establishing factories. He said JINPAO also wants to use the industrial knowledge and technical experience it has accumulated to create opportunities for Thai students. In his view, a well-designed competition can give young people a place to apply what they have learned in class and address practical engineering problems.

Chung also identified automation and robotics as important foundations for the future of industry. He hopes students will use the competition to exercise creativity, test their designs, and gain hands-on experience. These capabilities can help prepare participants for technical and professional roles in fields where automated systems and robotics are increasingly relevant.

The final round of the 2026 JINPAO-PRAKSA Automation Competition, formally described as an industrial automation and robotics competition for secondary-school and vocational-education students, took place from October 30 to 31 at Praksa Withedsuksa School (帕克薩國際教育學校). A total of 43 teams from 26 Thai provinces took part in the competition, with 16 teams advancing to the finals. The finalists competed in three rounds of practical challenges for the royal trophy and prize money.

Now in its third year, the competition focuses on industrial automation, robotics, and intelligent control. Teams were tasked with designing and building a fully automated material-handling robot, also referred to as a Robot / AGV. Their systems were expected to integrate image recognition, autonomous navigation, robotic arms, and automation control. The challenge required the machines to complete the tasks without human operation.

Within 5 minutes, each system had to tackle a sequence of five stages: automatic retrieval of three colored blocks and one metal plate, maze navigation, color sorting, and automatic bending of a metal plate. Together, these activities tested a range of engineering functions, from recognizing objects and moving through a constrained route to manipulating and processing materials. The tasks were intended to resemble elements of practical industrial work rather than remain solely theoretical exercises.

Manual remote control and human intervention were prohibited throughout the competition. This rule made autonomous performance central to the challenge. Teams had to design systems that could operate consistently while balancing accuracy, efficiency, stability, and energy management. A robot that could complete only one task well would not necessarily meet the broader demands of an integrated industrial process.

All 16 finalist teams received a production subsidy of 30,000 baht from JINPAO Precision to help them build their entries. The judging committee included principals from technical colleges, experts from vocational education research and development institutions, members of JINPAO’s technical team, and industry representatives. Final rankings were determined using each team’s best result across the three rounds, giving contestants multiple opportunities to demonstrate the performance of their designs.

The competition therefore served several purposes at once. It provided students with a practical engineering challenge, supported the development and testing of automation systems, and created a setting in which educational institutions and industry participants could interact. Its emphasis on building, testing, and refining a complete system also encouraged students to consider how individual components—such as navigation, object recognition, mechanical handling, and control—work together.

JINPAO has a long-standing presence in Thailand’s precision manufacturing, aerospace, and smart manufacturing sectors. The company also continues to invest in vocational education and talent development. Against that background, the competition reflects its role as a Taiwanese business with a sustained presence in Thailand, while highlighting the potential for Thailand and Taiwan to cooperate in vocational education, smart manufacturing, and workforce development.

The royal trophy added recognition to an event whose broader significance lies in its focus on skills and collaboration. By asking students to solve practical problems under defined operating conditions, the competition connected classroom knowledge with challenges relevant to modern production. It also offered a public platform for schools, technical experts, and companies to assess the abilities and ideas of emerging talent.

Key Insights Table

Afterwards...

The competition points toward questions that schools, manufacturers, and policymakers may continue to explore: how can students gain access to realistic engineering challenges, and how can education systems keep pace with rapidly changing industrial technologies? Robotics contests can provide one practical route by encouraging participants to design, build, test, and improve complete systems. Their impact, however, depends on sustained support from educators, technical institutions, and employers.

Further work could examine how tools such as machine vision, autonomous navigation, industrial robotics, and intelligent control can be incorporated into vocational training. Equally important is the ability to assess not only whether a machine completes a task, but also how reliably, efficiently, and safely it performs. Competitions that make these qualities visible can help students understand the broader requirements of modern manufacturing.

Partnerships between companies and schools may also help align practical training with the needs of industry while preserving room for student creativity. The continuing challenge is to turn one-time demonstrations into durable pathways for learning, technical experience, and career development. As Thailand and Taiwan deepen cooperation in vocational education and smart manufacturing, initiatives like the JINPAO-PRAKSA competition can offer useful models for connecting young talent with real-world engineering.