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The KIT Robocon (robot contest) project team, The KIT Dragons, participated in the NHK Inter-University Robot Contest held at the National Youth Center (NYC) in Tokyo. The KIT team has entered the contest three years running and is delighted with this year’s spectacular win, an Honourable Mention from Nintendo during the qualifying round of the tournament.
Two teams (finalist and semi-finalist) selected from the 20 universities nationwide who cleared the first cut (from document submissions) and second cut (from video clips), to compete in the Japanese domestic finals, will go on to compete in the ABU (Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union) Robotics Competition 2009 in August. The 2009 international finals will be held in Tokyo and are expected to draw participants from 16 countries and regions. Unfortunately, the KIT Dragons’ one-win, one-loss result did not allow them to compete at the international level.
The theme of the 2009 competition “In traveling, what one wants is a companion; in winning, to beat the drum.” is a play on the famous saying, “In traveling, what one wants is a companion; in life, compassion.” This year’s high standards called for participants to have a self-propelled robot (traveling companion) carried in a basket held aloft by two other robots. After conquering an obstacle course complete with mountain (slope) and forest (array of standing poles) the robot in the basket must get out of the basket and strike a drum. Other teams focused on ways to raise and lower the basket. The KIT Dragons were the only team to have the robot climb in and out of a fixed basket. This innovation made for the smoothest transition from starting point to basket and basket to drum receiving a hearty round of applause.
The competition will be featured on NHK television from 1:05 to 1:59 on July 20, 2009. |
