Two PoliTO Students on the Winning Team at RoboCup Rescue Japan
Advanced robotics, international research, and hands-on training were at the heart of the experience of Politecnico di Torino students Alessandro Di Ienno and Francesco Loche, who took part in the RoboCup Rescue Japan Open, one of the world's most important international competitions dedicated to robotics for emergency response and rescue operations.
The competition took place in recent days at the Shiga Daihatsu Arena in Otsu, Japan, where the two students participated as members of the SHINOBI team from the Osaka Institute of Technology. Alessandro Di Ienno and Francesco Loche are currently in Japan working on their master's thesis projects through the university's thesis-by-proposal initiative within the activities of the PoliTO Japan Hub. Their work is supervised by Professor Giuseppe Quaglia for the Politecnico di Torino and Professor Fumitoshi Matsuno for the Japanese institution.
During the RoboCup competition, the SHINOBI team competed with FUHGA4, a highly mobile rescue robot designed to operate in disaster-stricken and hostile environments. The system combines tracks and robotic legs to overcome complex obstacles and navigate difficult terrain. It is equipped with a carbon-fiber manipulator arm and advanced sensors, including LiDAR and thermal cameras, which are essential for autonomous navigation and 3D environmental mapping.
Within the project, Alessandro Di Ienno focused specifically on the development of the robot's object detection systems, while Francesco Loche worked on the design of the robot's gripping system.
The SHINOBI team achieved first place overall in the competition standings and also received the "Best in Class Mobility" award. In addition, the team was honored with the prestigious "RoboCup Rescue Real Robot League SICE Award," presented by the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE) to teams that demonstrate exceptional technological and research contributions to the league.
"The scientific collaborations we are carrying out through the Japan Hub continue to prove extremely fruitful," commented Professor Quaglia regarding the achievement. "I am particularly pleased that, in addition to their thesis project, our students had the opportunity to experience something like this, which will certainly enrich both their academic and personal development."