In July, four Middle School students from Cedar Hill Prep School journeyed to Nagoya, Japan to represent the U.S. in the International RoboCup Junior Competition. They joined approximately 3000 students from Middle and High Schools, Colleges, Universities, and Research Departments, who journeyed to Nagoya to participate in the International RoboCup Competitions and/or Amazon Robotics Challenge, a global event in which 40 countries were represented.
RoboCup Junior is a league participated in by students between the ages of 11 and 19. It provides three challenges: Soccer, OnStage, and Rescue. Cedar Hill Prep School represented the United States in the On Stage challenge. The most attractive point of this challenge is the use of freewheeling thinking, such as the exploration of robot mechanisms and the pursuit of robot-human collaborations without restrictions as to the number of robots or their size. The students’ creativity and artistic sense are essential components of this challenge.
All participants are assessed by interview and by observation of the performance of the robots (and the participants themselves). The OnStage criteria are divided into six categories: programming, structure/configuration, use of sensors, choreography, robot costumes, and entertainment.
There were 19 countries/teams that took part in this challenge. The Cedar Hill Prep School Team had 8 robots that simulated a Diamond Heist and a James Bond theme. Although they encountered technical difficulties during the first performance, their second performance was nearly perfect.
The competition among all the teams was fierce. Austria won second place with their Robots competing in a Ski race, the Slalom. The Israeli Girls’ Team won for best programming with their creation of a Beyoncé Robot who danced to “I am a Single Lady.” The team from Portugal won the World Championship as they mastered the total package – the story line, programming, and overall performance.
It was truly an inspiring experience, with many valuable lessons learned. Congratulations to our RoboCupJunior Team…Arjun Agrawal, Vishnu Gade, Aarav Gupta, and Siddharth Rochlani!
