RoboCup Japan Open 2015 in Fukui

Autonomous robots compete to go to the World Robocup!

Takako Sakamoto May 05, 2015 - 1 min read

<p>Autonomous humanoids playing soccer. The humanoids wearing deep-blue uniforms belong to Crude from Taiwan, and the ones wearing sky-blue uniforms are JoiTech of Osaka University.</p>

<p>A schedule board of Robocup Japan 2015</p>

<p>No. 3 humanoid of Taiwan team tried to kick a ball into a goal and fell on his rear</p>

<p>Serious spectators and photographers watching the game</p>

<p>After he fell on his rear, he spread his legs and tried to get up</p>

<p>Wow, he got on his legs again without help!</p>

<p>Middle-sized robots of no more than 50cm diameter playing soccer to go to the World Robocup</p>

<p>Cute robots of Small Size Soccer League</p>

<p>Mid-size robots of Kanazawa Institute of Technology (left: WinKit) and Tokyo Polytechnic University (right: RV-Infinity) wrestling over a ball</p>

<p>Serious faces of technicians from Tokyo Polytechnic University checking up their robots</p>

<p>Another humanoid warming up for the coming game</p>

<p>Crab-shaped robot exhibited for kids. Crab is one of Fukui's specialties.</p>

<p>Another Fukui's specialty, a dinosaur robot!</p>

<p>An autonomous service robot at the RoboCup@Home league. She recognizes the face and shape of a human and follows him to serve him.</p>

<p>Taiwan team members tuning their humanoid with serious faces, while the humanoid is waiting with an innocent expression.</p>

<p>A team member lying down on a floor taking rest. Programming humanoids must be exhausting.</p>

Robocup is an international scientific competition of autonomous robots with an aim to beat the human soccer World Cup champions by 2050. Since its establishment in 1997 by Japanese researchers, it expanded worldwide, and national and international competitions have been held each year. In 2015, before the coming international Robocup in July in Hefei, China, the Robocup Japan Open was held from May 2 to May 4 in Fukui. As a secret fan of robots in any shape, I visited it to find cute autonomous robots trying to beat each other. Although I can't buy one as they are too expensive (1 million yen each), I may be able to live until the day when they beat the human soccer champions by 2050! It will be held annually, don't miss it when it comes to your town!

The information on Robocup can be found at the URL below. Robocup Japan Open Homepage Robocup International Homepage

Robots in Japan

Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...