Science Tokyo students win award at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai XROBOCON
Team MECHANEKKO, which includes members from the Society for the Study of Robotics — an official Science Tokyo student club — has won the Best Cheer Award at XROBOCON, a robotics contest held at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan on August 26 and 27.
XROBOCON, held for the first time this year, is a contest that combines AI, robotics, and games under the concept of “creating technology for 20 years from now.” Organizers match participants in robot teams and virtual teams from across Japan to form coalition teams. Each team then develops competition robots and AI systems. Four coalition teams competed in the main event, held on the exhibition stage at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
Team MECHANEKKO consisted of 28 participants — 13 Science Tokyo students from the Society for the Study of Robotics and additional individual entrants.
The theme for the inaugural XROBOCON contest was “Summon! XTREME Sumo.” During each round, competing robots battled one-on-one in a circular three-tiered ring, attempting to gather as many virtual coins as possible. Under rules permitting contact and obstruction between robots, the team that collected the most coins — earned by moving to specific locations during the three-minute match — won the round.
Competitors had to develop not only robots but also AI agents to control their robots. Participating teams were provided with virtual field data — a 3D recreation of the actual ring — in advance. The AI agents utilized this data to control the robots. Robots had to be fundamentally moved through autonomous control by AI agents, and no direct human operation was allowed. Teams were, however, permitted to communicate with their robots using a single button from the cockpit. The use of this button was left to each team's discretion.
Team MECHANEKKO competed using the robot and AI agent µν (pronounced “mew-new”), developed over the five months from the April kickoff to the August competition.
The contest featured a round-robin preliminary stage followed by a final match between the top two teams from the preliminaries.
During the preliminary stage, Team MECHANEKKO’s robot malfunctioned and failed to operate, resulting in elimination. After adjustments on the second day, however, the robot successfully cleared the second tier in the ring, creating excitement at the venue.
Although Team MECHANEKKO’s robot did not advance to the finals, the design and movements of the robot, as well as the AI agent's “summoning ceremony” before each match, drew significant attention. The team was awarded the Best Cheer Award, both for its relentless efforts to fine-tune the robot and its united commitment to entertain the audience throughout the competition.
Team MECHANEKKO members from Society for the Study of Robotics
Yu-suke Soeda, 4th year, Materials Science and Engineering
Atsumasa Takebayashi, 4th year, Mechanical Engineering
Taku Tatewaki, 4th year, Mechanical Engineering
Hyuga Sasaki, 1st-year master’s student, Mechanical Engineering
Akira Miyatani, 1st-year master’s student, Life Science and Technology
Hideyuki Kumano, 1st-year master’s student, Life Science and Technology
Reiji Muramoto, 2nd-year master’s student, Mechanical Engineering
Rei Sugihara, 2nd-year master’s student, Mechanical Engineering
Kimika Hamamura, 2nd-year master’s student, Social and Human Sciences
Yuta Tsukamoto, 1st-year doctoral student, Mechanical Engineering
Reiji Terunuma, 1st-year doctoral student, Mechanical Engineering
Comments from participants
Yu-suke Soeda
Team leader
I am honored to have served as the team leader in this contest. Developing alongside team members I met for the first time, each with diverse backgrounds, was both a defining feature of this robotics competition and a significant challenge. However, the experience gained through this process was truly invaluable. While our results were not great, receiving the prestigious Best Cheer Award is a great source of pride for us. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my team members. They gave their all until the very end. I would also like to thank the Science Tokyo staff for their support, and everyone else who supported us.
Reiji Muramoto
Head of mechanical team
I served as the head of the mechanical team in this contest. It was my first time collaborating online to develop a physical machine within such a short timeframe. Consequently, mistakes were made in task allocation and design, causing the development to fall significantly behind schedule. Nevertheless, thanks to support and persistent efforts from my teammates, we ultimately achieved a design and functionality that aligned with the team's vision. On the day of the competition, there were no mechanical failures, and we were able to demonstrate our robot's operation. I believe this allowed us to successfully give form to our efforts. Through this experience, I was reminded of the importance of persevering without giving up until the very end.
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Contact
Society for the Study of Robotics, Science Tokyo
Email info@rogiken.org