JAPAN: Robots compete in a game of soccer at a meet of Japanese robot aficionados

Robot enthusiasts gather in Japan for a soccer tournament for robots. Robots and their creators battled it out on the soccer pitch on Sunday (July 1) at the Robo-one Soccer Cup, a meet for Japanese amateur robot aficionados. At the event, robot soccer players played against each other in a match similar to "three on three" football. Sixteen teams participated after they won preliminary rounds which were held throughout Japan. Humanoid robot players, measuring only about 30 centimetres (one foot) tall, were controlled by their creators to defend or score goals with a miniature soccer ball. "It is very difficult to team up with two other robots. And as conditions of each robot vary from day to day, you have to place the right robot in the right position," said 26-year-old Hiroyuki Nomura. Many of the robots had glitches that need to be overcome before they can play properly. Sometimes the "players" start running in the opposite direction to the ball and can't stop. "My dream is to create a robot which can move as smoothly as human beings do," said 40-year-old Naoki Maru one of the participants. Robot festivals such as this are becoming more and more popular in cyber-crazy Japan where increasingly sophisticated robots are fast becoming a common entertainment gadget.

ITN Source | July 4, 2007

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