Recently, ZHUANG Yan, a teacher at the College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Harbin Engineering University (HEU), along with 2004 alumnus and part-time professor LI Tiebin, won the 2024 Red Dot Design Concept Award: Best of the Best for their innovative design, "Tianjiang" Unmanned Emergency Rescue Modular Equipment V2. This is the highest award HEU has received in the field of industrial design to date.
The Red Dot Award Chairman, Peter Zak (first from left), and Asian Red Dot Award Chairman, QIU Zhijian (first from right), presented the Red Dot Trophy to LI Tiebin and ZHUANG Yan.
The Red Dot Award is internationally recognized as the most prestigious industrial design award, often referred to as the "Oscar of the design industry." It ranks among the three major design awards in the world, alongside the German iF Award and the American IDEA Award. The Red Dot Award: Best of the Best is considered the pinnacle of design achievement and represents the highest honor within the Red Dot Awards.
"Tianjiang" targets the field of unmanned emergency rescue and won the top award in the industrial equipment machinery category for its creativity and foresight. The core design concept revolves around the combination of an independent host and application model modules. The independent host acts like a "brain," while the application model modules function as "hands and feet." A multifunctional interface has been designed on the "brain," allowing for the connection of various "hands and feet" with different functions to perform diverse mechanical tasks.
The independent host of "Tianjiang" can be paired with multiple modules to achieve various device functions.
Module interface of "Tianjiang" independent host
LI Tiebin noted that the electromechanical integration interface design in "Tianjiang" has already been applied in practical projects. "Tianjiang" goes beyond concept design; every detail can be transformed into marketable solutions in the future.
The independent host of "Tianjiang" can be combined with three types of ice and snow-clearing modules: floating snow, snow, and frozen snow.
