The Freshman Mechanical Creativity Competition is a beginner-level scientific and technological innovation event designed for first-year students. It is organized with the aim to foster creativity, basic scientific and innovative skills, professional interests, and hands-on capabilities. The theme for the 18th competition is “Digging for Survival”. Participants are required to create a small-scale “excavator” using the provided prototype excavator, and standardized vehicle base plates, along with motors, single-chip microcomputers, Bluetooth modules, driver modules, and other self-purchased materials. Their challenge is to engineer an excavator capable of digging blocks in the sand. The final rankings are determined by both the number of blocks excavated and the completion time.