Latin America and the Caribbean
Participation of Japanese teams in IEEE Latin America Robotic Competition and winner of FEALAC Award
January 13, 2016
From October 28 to November 1, 2015, IEEE Latin American Robotic Competition was held in Uberlandia city, Brazil, and two Japanese teams (National Institute of Technology, Sendai College and National Institute of Technology, Kumamoto College) participated as the first Asian participants in IEEE Latin American Robotic Competition. Also Japanese government chose the first FEALAC Award winner. The summary is following.
- This year, 14th IEEE Latin American Robotic Competition was celebrated, and it was the first in which Asian teams are invited to participate as the result of Japan’s suggestion on holding competition between Asia and Latin America at the occasion of the 7th Foreign Minister’s Meeting in FEALAC (Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation).
- In this competition, National Institute of Technology, Sendai College and National Institute of Technology, Kumamoto College participated in the category of Humanoid Robot Racing, and National Institute of Technology, Sendai College won the first prize, breaking the competition’s record. National Institute of Technology, Kumamoto College won the second prize.
- The government of Japan and IEEE agreed to establish FEALAC Award in IEEE Latin American Robotic Competition from the 14th competition. The special judge for FEALAC Award, Professor Masashi Shimizu (Honorable professor of Tokyo Institute of Technology) chose EDROM as the first FEALAC Award winner. The winner team would be invited to Japan this spring to experience 1 week program which includes visits to robotic institutions and organizations, and exchange opinions with the National Institute of Technology, Sendai Collage.