Ishikawa
Kanai: No, not at all. Of course, the technical high school classification is specifically for Japanese technical high schools. But the open classification is open to the public including foreign robots. Over the years we’ve had a wide range of different entries, including women, seniors, and even very young robot operators. The oldest entrant was over 70, and the youngest ‘pilot’ was 8 years old.
I attended last year’s Kanto Regional 3 kg. class competition and the 10 kg. class final competition in Yokohama a few months ago. The robots move so quickly, and the action is so fast that it’s difficult to imagine how a referee can follow a match and provide reliable judgements. Is that a problem?
Ishikawa: Yes, it’s a significant challenge. As you mentioned, in some cases the match is over so quickly that if you blink you miss it. The television news cameramen often complain that they can’t follow the robots in action. A referee has to be well trained and have a lot of experience before they can be officially certified.