JAPAN: Robots battle it out for title of "best bot" and $10,000 prize

Record ID: 402055

  • Title: JAPAN: Robots battle it out for title of "best bot" and $10,000 prize
  • Date: 22nd March 2010
  • Summary: KAWASAKI, JAPAN (MARCH 21, 2010) (REUTERS) ( ** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) BUILDING WHERE ROBO-ONE IS BEING HELD SIGN THAT READS "ROBO-ONE" WITH PEOPLE WALKING INTO BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 6th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVAFQ9A6JLJ78REOZQI84Y5F0M3
  • Story Text: Robots gather in Japan to battle it out for title of "best bot" and more than $10,000 prize money.
    While not quite terminators yet, robots from across Japan as well as China and South Korea battled on the outskirts of Tokyo on Sunday (March 21) in the 17th Robo-one robot fighting competition.
    With 46 teams, the contest pits two legged robots against each other in a bid to win the title of "best bot" with 1 million yen (about $11,000 U.S. dollars) at stake.
    The original purpose of the event is to show people that Robots can be used practically in everyday life, according to Terukazu Nishimura, chairman of the Robo-one committee.
    "When I thought of how Robots could be useful to humans, I figured that there was no way that robots that couldn't pick themselves up could be useful to people. If a robot breaks when you hit it, one can't use it. That's when I thought about having robots fight," Nishimura said.
    The Robo-one competition now attracts competitors from around Asia, including a team of middle school students from China who, according to their teacher Fan Yi Dong, came in part to study Robotics.
    "This is to educate the youths, and to increase their interests we entered into this competition hoping to attract more teens to join this sort of activity," Dong said.
    Others came to promote their own products, such as Yu Chang Hyun who was competing to help promote the robot that his company sells.
    "I came here to Japan to promote the Robot that my company makes," Yu said.
    Robots competing in the competition have to knock down the opposing robot three times using everything from punching to tackling the opponent.
    The robots still have a while to go before challenging a human to a fight, but organizers say they expect even faster and better robots by the next bi-annual Robo-one competition.
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