A total of nine Croatian teams participated in RoboCup 2017 in Japan
Every time someone claims future generations in Croatia don't have much to look forward to, some bright young minds make sure to prove them wrong.
Three Croatian teams won gold medals at RoboCup 2017, the world's biggest competition in robotics that took place in the Japanese city of Nagoya from July 27 to July 30, reported Školski portal. They landed back in Croatia earlier today, August 1.
Hundreds of young robotics experts arrived to Nagoya from more than 40 countries to show off their impressive skills in five major categories: Soccer, Industrial, Rescue, Home and Junior, further divided into sixteen subcategories. Our robot whizzes again proved they deserve their place at the top of the world talent list, showing years of education and work are always worth it in the long run. Professor Đula Nađ, who used to be one of the first supporters and mentors in robotics in Croatia, once said that a teacher who's afraid of his students surpassing him in knowledge isn't a good teacher. Judging by the following results, all mentors who are helping to shape our talents proved to be more than just good teachers.
The first gold medal went to the team named Školska knjiga Croatia for the category Soccer Light Secondary. Team members Roko Parać and Matko Pribičević were mentored by Zoran Pribičević, supported by association Robofreak and the Croatian Robotics Association (HDR) Zagreb.
Another gold was taken away in the category Rescue Maze by the team Yazaki Croatia from Zagreb, composed of members Matej Novosad, Janko Pribičević and Ines Kušen. Engineer and professor at the Elementary School Mate Lovrak in Zagreb Jelka Hrnjić said she was especially proud of this team: "We don't have a favourite medal, we're happy for all of them, but I have to single out the gold for Rescue Maze; the boys have been winning medals in this category since 2014, but have never gotten first place. They got reinforcement recently, the first girl in the team", said Hrnjić. This sounds like a recipe for success – when you're so close to the top and yet can't seem to reach it, add a smart girl and you're headed for a win!
The third gold was won by team Croadriatic coming from Split's Association of Young Robot Makers. Antonio Nikolić and Paško Zekić won first place in the category Soccer Light Primary, mentored by Zoran Vukić.
Apart from three golds, another team got a prize for Best Software Programming in the category Rescue Line. The Croatian Robotic Association team was composed of students from Elementary School Dugave and Elementary School Mato Lovrak in Zagreb, joined by another student from Elementary School Varaždin. Members Grgur Premec, Noa Šoić and Jerko Čubić were mentored by Domagoj Premec.
That's not all, though, as the talent for robotics seems to thrive in Croatia. Five more teams participated in RoboCup this year, and even though they didn't make the top-three cut, they are more than deserving of a special mention:
Janaf Croatian Team, members Nera Kuzminski, Ana Klarić and Nika Vinković, mentor Ivica Kolarić, Elementary school Varaždin, category On Stage Secondary
HNS Croatia, members Petar Slaviček, Branimir Ćaran and Andro Katanec, mentor Zoran Pribičević, Robofreak and HDR Zagreb, category Soccer Open League
Gebruder Weiss Cro Team, members Martin Peček and Borna Svržnjak, mentor Jelka Hrnjić, Robofreak Varaždin, category On Stage Primary
Cro Twins, members Ivan Janjić and Lucija Janjić, mentor Mirko Janjić, RIK Nuštar and Elementary school Zrinski Nuštar, Vukovar-Srijem County, category Co Space Primary
Ducati Komponenti Cro Team, members Antonio Vlahović, Ivan Jovanović and Vilim Stančin, mentor Željko Posavec, High School Ludbreg, Varaždin County, category Co Space Secondary
Congratulations to all participating teams, medals won or not; we hope they all keep working hard and knock it out of the park again in 2018!
Take a look at more photos from RoboCup 2017 on Croatian Robotic Association Facebook page.
