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 Masato 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, playing soccer using a ball equipped with infrared sensors on a court measuring approximately 2m x 1.5m, with the outcome determined by two halves of 4 minutes each. In this competition, not only the technical skill of the robots but also programming abilities and the handling of issues during the match affect the results. 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 had improved over generations, and they approached this tournament with that legacy.

When asked about their impressions of the tournament, Mr. Goko said, "I heard it was an amazing tournament just to participate, but I am surprised to have won. With each tournament, including the West Tokyo Tournament and the Kanto Block Tournament, we made improvements and were able to grow and have fun."
When asked about the reasons for his victory, Mr. Yamada 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 attend a robotics class in the city, where they learn programming and practice robot soccer. Mr. Goko mentioned, "It is fun to find issues while practicing with my teammates, share information, and make improvements."

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.