Kyoto University 'SHINOBI' takes 1st in RoboCup Japan Rescue League (6 May 2017)

Published on

2017/06/02

On 23 May 2017 Kyoto University student team 'SHINOBI' demonstrated their award-winning rescue robot 'FUHGA' to reporters. Such robots are designed to rescue people in disaster situations that are too hazardous or difficult for emergency teams to enter. SHINOBI is composed of master's students from Professor Fumitoshi Matsuno's laboratory of mechatronics, and led by second-year master's student Tatsuya Takemori.

The team spent a year designing and constructing FUHGA, which they entered in the RoboCup held 3-6 May at the Aichi Institute of Technology. Joining 10 other university teams, FUHGA demonstrated its recognition, dexterity, and maneuverability in disaster simulations. Their cumulative high scores earned them the top prize, Best In Class Dexterity award, and The Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE) award.

At the press event, Takemori presented their achievements to reporters, explaining the different tools and technology employed by FUHGA, including: an extendable arm, flip rollers, and CO2 and thermal sensors. The team then demonstrated the mobility and maneuverability of FUHGA by having it climb stairs, crawl over ledges, and open doors. A q&a session followed, during which the team explained each member's contributions to the effort and personal goals for rescue robots in general.

SHINOBI will next take FUHGA to compete in the RoboCup 2017 world competition, to be held 27-30 July in Nagoya.