Keihanna Avatar Challenge 2025
Opening ceremony starts at 12:30 on May 25, 2025, competition time starts at 13:00 and ends at 17:00
Looking for participants for the experience corner!
If you would like to participate, please be sure to read the Competitor Participation Manual “Keihanna Avatar Challenge 2025 Races & Rules.”
Keihanna Avatar Challenge 2025: Races & Rules
Looking for participants for the experience corner!
Recruitment for teams to participate in the competition has ended, but there is also a test experience corner where spectators who just want to watch can participate. Parallel slalom competitions are free to participate and anyone can participate. You can make your own robot or test your skills with a rented robot. If you would like to participate, please click on the application button for this tournament and enter the required information. The deadline for applications is May 1, 2025. At the pre-competition, a variety of people, from elementary school students to an 82-year-old man, enjoyed operating the Avatar robots.
Avatar Challenge 2025 Competition Overview
Brass bands and avatars march down Seika Boulevard from west to east. Robot suits and a “digital chindon shop” will liven up the event.
Unlike autonomous robots (typically Astro Boy), avatar robots (typically Tetsujin 28) are human-horse (?) machines that issue instructions remotely.
Current video information transmission technology has a transmission delay of about 100 milliseconds even in high-performance systems, which poses problems in interactive performance. This issue will be resolved over time, and the time will come when it will become comparable to e-sports. It’s a competition where you can enjoy the evolution up to that point.
It’s a time competition where you win the rock, paper, scissors and cross the finish line.
A human and an avatar robot meet on the sidewalk and play rock, paper, scissors.
① At first, the robot calls out and plays rock, paper, scissors. If you lose, you are disqualified from this game.
② A human calls out “Aikodoko”, and there is a time difference, so if the pilots put out their hands together in time with the call, it will look like rock-paper-scissors. Therefore, whether you win or lose, you will be disqualified. In order to win with “Aiko,” you need to act faster than a human can. If you don’t win then you will be disqualified. In Aiko’s case, go back to ②.
Jizo Bosatsu is considered the guardian deity of children and travelers, and Jizo-bon is an event to pray for the growth and health of children. It is said to have originated in Kyoto. Children visit Jizo statues and families and receive candles and sweets…It’s a culture very similar to Halloween. We look forward to a future in which regional communication will be enriched through avatar robots.
In this event, an avatar presses an intercom placed on the sidewalk to make a chime sound, and residents are asked to respond. Even if you use a robot arm or hit the chime with your body, if the chime sounds, you will pass. Rank them in order of fastest completion. If you cannot press it, you will be disqualified.
When avatars coexist with humans and live in society, whether they can be used for errands is an important practical evaluation point, especially for the elderly. This competition will test whether you can smoothly perform such tasks on the premise that QR code payments are possible.
Use your avatar to shop at McDonald’s in VIERA Town Keihanna. Once you get a Big Mac with the QR code, put it in the basket on the back and aim for the goal. Rank them in order of fastest completion.
The question arises as to whether slalom is necessary in daily life, but in order for avatars to coexist with humans and live in society, they must be able to move in a space designed according to human physical abilities. In order to get through the crowds that are common in cities, it is necessary to move forward while dodging obstacles such as people coming toward you, which requires slalom skills. Your ability to predict the direction your opponent will move, your walking strategy according to your prediction, and your ability to quickly respond when your prediction is incorrect is tested. Ranking will be determined by the fastest finisher. There is a penalty (time plus alpha) if you touch the cone.
In order for avatars to coexist with humans and live in society, they must be able to operate in a space designed according to human physical abilities. A major issue in this case is the presence of steps, especially stairs. It is technically difficult for an avatar to go up and down stairs, so this competition will test whether the avatar can overcome a ramp set up for wheelchairs.
A course is set up in the sundial square. The avatar will advance over three slopes. The model is a slope that is commonly experienced by people in wheelchairs. The winner will be determined by the shortest completion time.
To participate, please apply from the “Contest Participation Application” link at the top of this page.
The goal of the Avatar robot is for anyone to be able to operate it like a car. The general public is best suited to evaluate usability. The biggest difference from autonomous robots like RoboCup is that it is an event where spectators can also participate.
After the competition ends, a parallel slalom course will be set up in the sundial plaza for spectators to participate. We will recruit about 20 people and compete for the best time. Unlike the main competition, which requires 3 people to apply, please apply in units of 1 person. The winner of each heat and the fastest winner will be awarded as the overall winner. The diagram is an image of the future.
After all competitions, an awards ceremony will be held at Keihanna Sundial Square. We offer various prizes to the participants, not only based on the speed of their time, but also on appearance, ideas, age of the participants, etc. Please feel free to join us.
Introduction of the Keihanna Avatar Challenge 2025 competition course
It will cover approximately 900 meters from in front of the sundial on Seika Odori Street in Seika-cho, Kyoto Prefecture to the entrance of Keihanna Memorial Park. The red line shows the parade that runs from west to east on the main line (on one side), and the yellow line shows the competition course that takes place on the sidewalk from east to west. The east side of Hikaridai Route 2 in the center is 5G wide only, and the west side is a hybrid of 5G wide and Wi-Fi, so more agile operation can be expected.
Course layout (Seika Boulevard)
※Cones will be used to separate the spectator and pedestrian walkways.
Specifications of Formula 3 Avatar
- Size: Width 60cm or less, height 150cm or less (length 120cm or less)
- Weight: 35kg or less
- Speed: less than 6 kilometers per hour
- Collision energy: 14J or less
- Any technological means (and combinations thereof) may be used to collect information about the environment (e.g. LIDAR, vision, ultrasound)
- Formula 2 comes with an arm attached to the main unit.
- There are no sharp protrusions that could pose a hazard to pedestrians.
- The avatar must be able to automatically stop in the event of an emergency, such as when communication with the driver is delayed for a certain period of time, or when communication is interrupted.
- If a traffic accident occurs, the occurrence of the accident can be recognized immediately.
- Get disability insurance (arranged by the competition executive committee)
- Two-way video communication is possible with the driver via mobile phone network/Wi-Fi.
- Must be equipped with a basket for sweets and Big Macs.
- 2 caregivers per avatar
- In addition to multi-AP Wi-Fi, we provide communication devices (see figure on the right) that bundle commercial mobile phone networks to provide stable, low-latency wireless connections. The interface to the avatar robot is Ethernet compatible.（https://www.ipros.jp/product/detail/2000711518）
Like F1, participants will compete in teams*.
*Teams are made up of the avatar provider and contestants (driver, two caregivers).
Various aspects of daily life will be turned into competitions, and the competitions will be designed to suit the technical level at the time.
