Poipoi robot vs. kids in goldfish catching battle
By Ryan Block 
posted Aug 12th 2005 10:40AM
posted Aug 12th 2005 10:40AM
Something's a little lost in cultural translation on Yamatokoriyama's annual childrens' goldfish scooping contest, but make no mistake about it, NAIST's (Nara Institute of Science and Technology) Poipoi aims to send those little pantywaists home to their mommies crying. What's the matter kid, can't catch more goldfish than a freaking robot designed to catch goldfish? You're a failure now, and you'll be a failure the rest of your life.
Someone's gotta teach these damn kids a lesson. If nothing else, it's a good preparation for a few years from now when they're laid off from a factory job having been made redundant by a non-union made robotic arm.
Hey let the little hackers build their own goldfish catching robots. They'll probably do a better job of it than NAIST did, and they'll do it with Legos and mom's old cell phone.
I thought the most efficient fishing device was a wet dry vacuum.....I guess I was wrong.
The most efficient fishing device is dynamite - much easier to use out in the middle of the lake than any wet vac.
Who wants to catch goldfish? And who would want to take the time to build something as pointless as a goldfish catching robot? Seriously people.
-Goldfish
Actually the trick of this game is the equipment; you get a very small loop with a piece of flat rice paper (this is called a "poi" and hence the name of the robot). Unfortunately the paper inside the loop is flat (not shaped like a trout net) and once the paper is wet, even small fish can bust through it. So the technique generally has one scooping quickly, but gently with the "poi" in attempts to catch the fish (many usually discard the "poi" after it gets wet since it's almost useless at that point).
So to create and program a robot that can track a fish, position its arm without scaring it, then quickly scoop, and carry the fish into an awaiting vessel is tricky. Essentially this is a design exercise in basic AI tracking and coordination (funny that no one said on the post about the fast-ball catching robotic arm that catching the ball with a net would be more effective—guess it really depends on what each culture considers as interesting/important).
Hey Mike...
you are special
Maikeru - booyah.
Chris26- you are sarcastic and probably 26.
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good article but didn't make sense until Maikeru.
kingyo-tsuri...
They also have the same thing with super balls and water barroons being picked up by hooks on paper threads.
Does that make sense?
ahahahaha
Great post! The funniest engadget entry I've read so far!