Our Town 2024 Yuta Goko, Haruto Yamada

Won the RoboCup Junior Japan Open 2024 in Nagoya and received the Design Award!

In March, at the tournament held in Nagoya City, Yuta Goko (then a 5th grader at Inagi Dai 7 Elementary School) and Shuto Yamada (then a 2nd grader at Inagi Dai 3 Junior High School) won the soccer entry league and also received the design award.
This competition involves two self-assembled autonomous robots per team, competing in a soccer match using a ball equipped with infrared sensors on a court measuring approximately 2m x 1.5m. The match is divided into two halves of 4 minutes each, determining the winner based on the score. In this competition, not only the technical skill of the robots but also programming abilities and the ability to respond to issues during the match affect the outcome. The team that participated this time, "Corn Ranger Squad," used robots molded from corn-derived plastic with a 3D printer, inheriting the technology that their seniors have improved over generations, and they approached this tournament with that legacy.

When asked about his impressions of the tournament, Mr. Goko said, "I had heard that it was an amazing tournament just to be able to participate, but I am surprised to have won. With each tournament, including the West Tokyo Tournament and the Kanto Block Tournament, I was able to improve and grow while having fun," he said with a smile.
When I asked Mr. Yamada about the reasons for his victory, he said, "I received advice from a senior who participated in the same tournament last year, and over the course of a year, I developed a structure that made it difficult for the opponent to catch the ball, which led to my victory."
The two are attending a robot class in the city, learning programming and practicing robot soccer. "It is fun to find issues while practicing with my teammates, share information, and make improvements," said Mr. Goko.

We asked the two about their future goals. "Next, I want to compete in the next level lightweight category (under 19) and aim for the world number one (Goko-san)." "I want to gather more information, improve my skills with my teammates, and create a better robot. I will work hard to become the world number one in the lightweight category (Yamada-san)," both spoke passionately. Their challenge continues as they strive to make further improvements and become robots that can excel on the world stage.