Team NAIST-RITS-Panasonic, a team composed of members from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), Ritsumeikan University (RITS) and the Robotics HUB of Panasonic Corporation, placed 1st in the Restock and Disposal task, 1st in the Restroom Cleaning task, and ultimately the Overall Winner Prize of the Future Convenience Store Challenge (FCSC), an event part of the World Robot Summit (WRS) held at Aichi Sky Expo on September 9-12.
The FCSC is organized and sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of the Japanese government. In this competition, 21 teams from Japan and abroad gathered and benchmarked their cutting-edge technologies by competing in three tasks: Restock and Disposal, Restroom Cleaning and Customer Interaction.
Team NAIST-RITS-Panasonic results were:
Message from the Team Leader Gustavo Garcia:
We are proud to have represented two Japanese universities, the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) and Ritsumeikan University (RITS), and the world-class company Panasonic in this international robotics competition, as one of 21 contending teams.
We would like to thank the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) for organizing such a successful event, and for distinguishing us with the METI Minister’s Award, and with two NEDO Chairman’s Awards.
Also, great thanks to CNS and the Robotics Hub of Panasonic for joining us in this amazing adventure. Without their excellent contributions and active cooperation, we could not have achieved this result.
Finally, we would like to sincerely express our deepest gratitude to Professor Ogasawara (NAIST), Professor Tadahiro Taniguchi (RITS) and Visiting Professor Jun Takamatsu (NAIST) for their constant guidance and support during the 5-year history of the team, as well as to Professor Takahiro Wada (NAIST) for his support in this endeavor.
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