TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taipei student robotics team won four matches at a contest in Turkey after customs officials seized its robot and equipment before the event, FTV News reported Thursday.
VIS MARS, from VIS International Experimental Education school, was Taiwan’s only team at the FIRST Tech Challenge Istanbul Premier Event, the school said. The contest was held from June 26 to June 28.
Turkish customs officials seized the team’s robot, tools, spare parts, and other technical equipment, VIS said. The school said the problem was linked to Taiwan not being part of the ATA Carnet international customs system, which helps teams and companies bring equipment across borders.
Students, coaches, and parents spent 72 hours trying to get the equipment back, the school said. They worked with contacts in Turkey, the Netherlands, and Greece, but customs officials later told them the equipment could only be returned after they left Turkey.
With the contest about to begin, the students decided to build another robot. Other teams helped by lending tools and giving them discarded parts, VIS said.
The students had no original design plans and only limited materials. They built the replacement robot with basic parts, zip ties, and electrical tape.
The new robot passed official inspection and was allowed to compete, the school said. It could not perform like the original robot, so the team changed its strategy and used it mainly for defense.
VIS MARS then won four qualification matches in a row. In its best match, the team beat its opponents and recorded the highest score of the day.
The foreign ministry and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Mission in Ankara also gave urgent help, VIS said. Taiwan Representative to Turkey Huang Chih-yang (黃志揚) and mission staff assisted the team during the incident.
Speaking to Taiwan News, VIS Chancellor Richard Huang (黃禮騏) said the students’ response reflected the school’s educational values. He said VIS prepares students to face real-world problems with resilience, integrity, critical thinking, and courage.
“Our students did not achieve this result because everything went according to plan,” Huang said. “They succeeded because they refused to give up when everything went wrong.”
Huang said the team stayed calm, worked together, and found solutions under pressure. He said the experience showed that students need not only technical skills, but also resilience and judgment when facing real problems.
