Please note: While we try to always keep the English blog up-to date, there might be some delay regarding when a German blog post gets translated. Also, articles prior to RoboCup 2022 do not have English translations. To see those articles in German, please switch to the German blog.
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Schubert Open 2025: Game 3 vs Immortals
ER-Force vs. Immortals – The First Game of the Day
The game begins with the kickoff for the Immortals. The first few minutes are marked by hectic scenes. There were several ball exchanges, but many went out of bounds, making the game seem a bit rough at first. After some attempts to stabilize on the field, some tape had to be repaired in certain areas due to damage on the ground.
2′: The Immortals start a promising attack, but it ends in a high shot that goes far over the goal. The game slows down a bit as the ball keeps going out of bounds. It seems both teams are struggling to find their rhythm. The Immortals take a short timeout to reorganize.
3′: An exciting situation follows as a goal is scored for ER-Force – but a mistake was made earlier. An extra robot was on the field due to a yellow card, so the goal is disallowed. Meanwhile, the field is repaired again. The game remains thrilling as ER-Force stays on the offensive. There is a corner kick for ER-Force, but it fails due to incorrect ball placement. Additionally, the Immortals receive a red card for a violation related to ball placement.
4′: ER-Force continues attacking and takes control of the field. After an intense duel and a dangerous situation, ER-Force scores the first goal of the game! But the Immortals remain a threat and launch another attack. One of their robots falls to the ground during the duel.
5′: The game picks up speed. Both teams engage in an exciting and fluid duel. The Immortals create some dangerous attacks, but ER-Force defends skillfully and blocks all attempts. At halftime, it looks like the second half will be just as intense.
Halftime:
The game goes into the break with a narrow 1-0 lead for ER-Force.
6′: The kickoff resumes, this time for the Immortals. The match remains intense. ER-Force substitutes a robot and stays in defense.
7′: The Immortals try to push forward, but the ball goes out of bounds again. After another robot substitution for ER-Force, the game stays exciting. ER-Force’s defense holds firm, preventing any dangerous attacks from the Immortals.
8′: Another tense moment for ER-Force as one of their robots temporarily loses connection. However, the defense remains solid, and the Immortals are awarded a penalty kick – possibly due to a positioning error or another rule violation.
9′: Another thrilling duel, this time in ER-Force’s offensive play. The Immortals’ defense is challenged again, but ER-Force stays focused and doesn’t allow any further chances.
10′: The game becomes more fluid and remains highly exciting. Both teams continue to battle intensely, but ER-Force holds the upper hand and manages to secure a narrow 1-0 victory.
Final score: 1-0 for ER-Force
An exciting and hard-fought match, with ER-Force ultimately emerging victorious!
Schubert Open 2025: Game 4 vs TIGERs
The final match of Schubert Open. Us against TIGERs. The all-decisive game.
1′ The game starts with an exceptionally smooth kickoff. Robo comes in as a substitute, and there’s an early foul.
2′ TIGERs apply dangerous defensive pressure on us and score a goal. Our robot is damaged after a heavy collision, but TIGERs’ shot is too fast, and the goal is disallowed.
3′ The game remains intense and fluid. So far, there have been few complications.
4′ Our defense puts on a strong performance, holding off TIGERs’ pressure.
5′ After extended defensive play, TIGERs finally manage to score a goal. The ball flies out of bounds after the goal, and the score is 1-0 for TIGERs.
Halftime:
The score at halftime is 1-0 for TIGERs.
6′ (2nd half) Throw-in for TIGERs. Our defense remains solid.
7′ TIGERs score another goal. It was almost another one right after, but we defended well. Unfortunately, our keeper made a mistake and missed the ball. It goes out of play, giving TIGERs another throw-in.
8′ TIGERs play an uncomfortable offensive game, and we struggle to keep up.
9′ TIGERs score their fourth goal. The score is now 4-0.
10′ The score is now 5-0 for TIGERs. They seal the game and take the win.
Final score: 5-0 for TIGERs.
Unfortunately, we lost the all-decisive match.
RoboCup German Open 2025: ER-Force vs. TIGERs Mannheim
Now the time has finally come: The final match of the German Open will take place this Sunday at 12:30 PM between our team and the TIGERs Mannheim. After we were able to hold our ground quite well against the Mannheim team during this tournament, we can expect an exciting game here!
First Half
| 05:00 | Both teams are preparing for the match. Our team is playing as the yellow team with—believe it or not—ELEVEN robots, while the TIGERs are in blue, of course, also with 11 robots. |
| 05:00 | The match kicks off on time at 12:30 PM with a kickoff for TIGERs. But right away, a timeout for ER-Force due to issues with Ra and the radio connection. |
| 03:56 | There are intense duels between the ER-Force robots and those of TIGERs in our half. Our robots are giving it everything they’ve got. The result: One of our high-kick flaps goes flying through the air! |
| 03:41 | Another very tense situation right in front of our goal. The ball keeps getting passed back and forth between our defense and the attackers, but our defenders ultimately manage to defuse the situation! |
| 03:06 | After some maneuvers in the Mannheim half, they strike back with a counterattack, unfortunately resulting in a goal from the side! |
| ER-Force 0 : 1 TIGERs Mannheim | |
| 02:33 | The dangerous situations continue, but our robots are defending bravely so far. Both teams now have a yellow card, meaning only 10 robots are allowed to play! |
| 02:17 | Very well cleared by our goalkeeper! A throw-in by TIGERs near our penalty area turns into a dangerous attack on our goal, but the goalkeeper confidently defends with a chip kick. |
| 01:35 | This time, a small attack from our robots, with some of our field players showing great skills. Unfortunately, it does not result in a dangerous situation for the Mannheim team. |
| 00:46 | Our team is not showing any weaknesses: They relentlessly block every attempt to attack our goal. |
| 00:23 | A nice attack from our robots on the TIGERs’ goal, although the finishing power is lacking. The subsequent counterattack from Mannheim is successfully intercepted by our defense. |
| -00:02 | The last attack from Mannheim on our goal, but it doesn’t pose a real threat. With that, both teams head into the five-minute halftime break. |
Second Half
| 05:00 | Without switching sides, the second half begins with a kickoff by ER-Force. Will our team manage to equalize? |
| 04:42 | Strong defense by our goalkeeper! A powerful attack by TIGERs, but our goalkeeper clears the ball towards midfield! |
| 04:37 | But unfortunately, now: The immediate follow-up attack is successful, and TIGERs extend their lead to 2:0! |
| ER-Force 0 : 2 TIGERs Mannheim | |
| 03:46 | The dominance of TIGERs is clearly visible: The ball spends most of the time in our half. Nevertheless, we are holding our ground; despite the two conceded goals, our defense has been very strong so far! |
| 02:56 | Our defensive wall is rock solid: As soon as TIGERs find an opportunity for an attack, the wall closes in front of our goal and eliminates any danger. |
| 02:22 | A nice attack from our robots, but once again, we lack the finishing power to be truly dangerous! |
| 01:43 | What a scene in our penalty area! One attack on our goal after another, but with luck and relentless marking, we manage to prevent any further damage! |
| 00:53 | Our goalkeeper is as strong as ever and does not give up his goal easily! Unfortunately, we receive a red card after accumulating two active yellow cards and getting another one. A shame, as the first of these yellow cards would have expired in just four seconds. |
| -00:15 | After one last effort and an incorrect interruption by the AI referee, the game finally ends 2:0 in favor of Mannheim. |
Looking back, this match was a beautiful showcase of the current state of the Small Size League. In a very fluid game, both teams demonstrated their skills brilliantly.
Although TIGERs Mannheim dominated the match throughout, we still managed to launch attacks from time to time and defended even harder. As a result, we are still very satisfied with the outcome and take away many insights and opportunities for improvement for the next tournament, which will take place next week in Crailsheim!
German Open 2025
March has arrived, and as every year, it’s time for tournaments. Next week, 14 of our members will participate in the Freizeit-Messe in Nuremberg. The fair itself runs from March 12 to March 16, but our games won’t start until March 13. The German Open, a major robotics and AI tournament held as part of the Freizeit-Messe in Nuremberg, gives our members the opportunity to showcase their skills in exciting competitions.
By the way, the Schubert Cup will also take place in Crailsheim from March 21 to March 23, where you can find us as well!
In addition to us, TIGERs Mannheim, Immortals, and SeeGoals will also be participating in German Open. Moreover, from March 11 to March 13, the Embedded World will take place—another great reason to stop by. The Embedded World Exhibition & Conference is the international industry meeting point for the embedded community, bringing together leading experts, companies, and associations while offering deep insights into the world of embedded systems.
With the code “RCGO25” you can get discounted ticket prices on this page for only €11.
Team-Sync since December 2024
Our multi-day workshop is just around the corner and promises not only significant progress in a short amount of time but also plenty of team spirit! In addition to the intensive work on our projects, there will be joint cooking and dining to encourage exchange, as well as a relaxed game night for a bit of variety.
Before we kick off our workshop at the end of this week, here is a quick update on our current progress.
Electronics Subteam
New Funkmaster
Do you remember the MCon that we sawed apart at RoboCup? To restore the lost functionality, new ones have been ordered! We had some difficulties with the radio transceiver and its firmware, which is why we also ordered new devices. This not only solves the firmware issues but also eliminates the need to use two radio transceivers at the same time.
Another innovation: We can now measure location-dependent inductance, which significantly improves the movement of our pistons. We detailed this in this year’s ETDP. Additionally, our robots have been repaired and are now ready for the upcoming tournaments – set to get back into action!
Firmware Subteam
Firmware has 25 new radio modules from HBC, which will be picked up next week – this will greatly improve our communication. Data logging on the robot is now much faster, but the SD cards could still be a bottleneck. We made significant progress in dribbling: the new dribbler passed the tests successfully and runs very smoothly.
The absolute highlight is our new radio protocol, which we developed together with the software team. It will be a real breakthrough: precise position data, Kalman filter directly in the robot, and tracking that is more accurate than ever before. Instead of vague error messages, it now provides exact information like position, speed, and even ball control in real-time.
The data rate from HBC has already been increased, and the first parts of the protocol have been implemented – although not everything has been tested yet.
Mechanics Subteam
The mechanics team has arranged small gifts for our sponsors – a nice gesture of appreciation.
left: old dribbler, right: new dribbler
In addition, the coil measurement setup has been further improved, and a new version of the battery holder has been installed. The team is also working on finding more cost-effective manufacturing options for Omniwheels and selecting suitable bearings for the subwheels.
Another highlight: A dribbler prototype has been assembled – an exciting step forward!
Software Subteam
A software team member has written a paper in which a model for the kicker was developed to enable simulations and increase the kicker’s efficiency. Additionally, a new move was implemented that performs robot measurements and checks the driving accuracy of the robots using the field lines.
Besides the radio protocol, which was developed together with firmware, there were also a few experiments with machine learning, and a move was worked on that should enable the robot to dribble backward around opponents. Internally, the software was also revised to make everything even better and more efficient.