The “inclusive” RoboCup of the Manetti Porciatti Team from Grosseto.
At RoboCup Junior, the Olympic motto “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part” become “The most important thing is not to win, but to learn.” Team Go for Broke from the Manetti Porciatti Technological School in Grosseto, Italian Champion 2024, left for Eindhoven (Holland) full of energy and hoping to repeat its success of ten years ago, when they won the World Cup in Brazil [see news: The Revenge of the Azzurri]. Unfortunately, at the end of all the competitions in the Soccer Open Category, they placed ninth. This, however, does not mean that the team did not return as “champions.” There was plenty of satisfaction for the team composed by Riccardo Brogelli, Stefano Rocchi, Lucia Cortino, and Alessandro Di Lorenzo, along with Professors Emanuele Formichella and Arianna De Pietro. And this is the best part of their adventure. To understand their state of mind, we share this description of day two that was shared on the school’s Facebook page.
“… The most striking moment for our robots was against the team from the United States, Team Elite. It seemed like a dispute between David and Goliath, given that the Stars and Stripes robots were equipped with artificial intelligence and cost ten times more than the Maremma ones. In the end, the result rewarded our supporters with a resounding 12 to 2 which left little escape for the superpower. In the series, natural intelligence beats artificial intelligence 12 to 2. The subsequent matches saw us win again against the team from Rome (Let it Beep) by 12 to 11, and against Japan (Shoun) by 15 to 9. So, at end of the first day of we succumbed in three out of four matches and at the end of the second we were in eighth place with 15 points, but ready to give everything on the third day with the Technical Challenges to move up and gain access to the world finals.”
What more can we say? There are satisfactions that are worth more than gold! "Our champions" competed with economical robots (max 500 euros) equipped with precious and versatile human intelligence. It doesn't matter that we didn't reach a higher ranking. However, they return as "champions of low-cost robotics," because we like inclusive technology that is in reach of everyone.
In the beautiful photo below, the students of the Team Go for Broke with their peers from Team Let it Beep from the Piazza della Resistenza School in Monterotondo, who participated in the robotic derby between two Italian teams in Round 7. For Giampaolo Pucci, coach of the Let it Beep team, "the match with our friends from Grosseto who won the Italian Championship in Verbania was the best. Unfortunately, they won by one goal," but the most important thing is to learn!
