Category Archives: 2023

RoboCup: TIGERs Mannheim vs. Twente

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The next game of the day is TIGERs Mannheim against RoboTeam Twente. Because the last game lasted incredibly long, the game will start with a significant delay. But that’s not a problem since games with TIGERs Mannheim always save the schedule, as TIGERs Mannheim invariably destroys all its opponents, making the games quickly come to an end. Twente won’t have much of a chance, they should be lucky if they even get to touch the ball once. You can find the link to the game as always on Twente’s YouTube page or at this link.

Despite the highly anticipated, very one-sided game, we are still curious whether Twente can play with more robots now and if some of their bugs have been fixed. Among other things, Twente often had trouble shooting the ball during kickoff, as they repeatedly caused a double touch, which is forbidden by the rules to prevent individual robots from making “marches” through the field.

First Half

05:00 The game starts with a half-hour delay. Surprisingly, TIGERs are playing with all 11 robots in blue (just kidding), while Twente is playing with 3 robots in yellow.
04:45 Shot on goal by TIGERs Mannheim, but Twente manages to save it! That was unexpected.
04:39 Okay, it didn’t take long, goal for TIGERs.
TIGERs Mannheim 1 : 0 RoboTeam Twente
04:22 Another successful shot on goal, it’s already 2-0 for TIGERs Mannheim.
TIGERs Mannheim 2 : 0 RoboTeam Twente
04:14 This is happening too fast. Another goal, I can’t keep up with writing. They should play slower.
TIGERs Mannheim 3 : 0 RoboTeam Twente
04:02 While this would be expected from other teams, TIGERs is making some major mistakes in this game: they are occasionally not receiving their own passes. Meanwhile, Twente is holding up quite well; they can kick off, and in defense, they are shaky, although it’s still a David vs. Goliath situation.
03:55 The few passes that go wrong for TIGERs don’t stop them from immediately shooting another goal: 4-0 for TIGERs.
TIGERs Mannheim 4 : 0 RoboTeam Twente
03:44 5-0 for TIGERs…
TIGERs Mannheim 5 : 0 RoboTeam Twente
03:10 Now, the TIGERs bots have flexed a bit, playing long passing maneuvers with various chip kicks, only to shoot past the goal at a sharp angle. Still very nice to watch.
03:02 And, of course, they immediately make up for what they missed earlier: 6-0 for TIGERs Mannheim.
TIGERs Mannheim 6 : 0 RoboTeam Twente
02:53 This game may never see the second half: 7-0 for TIGERs Mannheim.
TIGERs Mannheim 7 : 0 RoboTeam Twente
02:33 Due to a ball placement, the next goal has been delayed a bit this time, but, of course, it eventually comes, and now it’s 8-0 for the robots from Mannheim.
TIGERs Mannheim 8 : 0 RoboTeam Twente
02:33 Twente is now taking a timeout, let’s see what they make of it.
02:25 And the game continues. Not much has changed; TIGERs is steadily heading towards the finish line with a score of 9-0. One more goal, and the game will end prematurely.
TIGERs Mannheim 9 : 0 RoboTeam Twente
02:12 The game could have been over in less than 2 game minutes (16 real minutes), but TIGERs Mannheim’s shot was too fast at 6.8 m/s, so it doesn’t count.
01:58 But now: 10-0 for TIGERs Mannheim, the game is officially ended with TIGERs’ victory dances and a robot version of “Eye of the Tiger”.
TIGERs Mannheim 10 : 0 RoboTeam Twente

RoboCup: Immortals vs. KIKS

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After our game lasted for one and a half hours, the next game, Immortals vs. KIKS, follows directly. You can find the link on Twente’s YouTube page or at this link

The outcome of this game determines whether we are displaced to the fourth place. If KIKS loses the game, we will remain temporarily and presumably in the 3rd place (theoretically, we could also be displaced to the fourth place in the game ZJUNlict vs. KIKS, but we expect that ZJUNlict will win this game decisively). In case of a draw or a win, however, KIKS displaces us, at least due to their better goal difference.

First Half

05:00 The game is kicked off with a slight delay, Immortals playing with 8 robots as the yellow team, KIKS with 9 robots as the blue team.
04:03 Not much exciting is happening during the game, the robots often just wobble a bit. Immortals now takes a timeout to check their robots.
03:37 Although the game is on the quieter side, it’s more enjoyable to watch than our game against ZJUNlict. Only the frequent long breaks are a bit annoying.
02:52 Short attacking session after a very quiet game, but the attack doesn’t lead to anything.
01:33 Many exciting ball exchanges and duels in KIKS’ half of the field. They can hold their own against Immortals for a long time, but eventually, the goal is scored: 1-0 for Immortals!
Immortals 1 : 0 KIKS
01:27 And again, the game stands still… The frequent interruptions are disruptive; the actual game looks quite nice.
00:35 Back and forth in midfield, but no real results come from it.
00:00 Thus, the first half ends. Overall, Immortals dominates the game, but neither of the teams could shine through with technology or AI. Let’s see how the second half will be. If the game ends in favor of Immortals, we will stay in our group’s third place; in case of a draw, KIKS will displace us to the 4th place due to their better goal difference.

Second Half

05:00 The second half continues directly with a shot on goal by Immortals, but the ball hits the outside of the goal.
03:46 The game is currently so sluggish and slow that it’s not fun to watch. The audience has noticed this too, which is why there are fewer and fewer spectators.
03:46 Endless minutes have passed, but not a single second in the game. Overall, the current situation can be summarized concisely with the following sentence: Incredibly boring.
03:25 Why is it always me when the ball is shot out of the field? In general, such shots happen very frequently in this RoboCup, so it’s dangerous to live close to the field. Additionally, the robots seem to be losing parts.
02:07 A goal is scored for Immortals. How, no idea; the attention span of most people has already been exhausted.
Immortals 2 : 0 KIKS
00:00 Somehow, we survived it; the game is finally over. Towards the end, it even went quite fast, but the damage was already done: a boring game. The good thing for us is that KIKS lost, and we remain in the 3rd place, at least for now.

RoboCup: ER-Force vs. ZJUNlict

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At exactly 09:00 AM, the tournament continues with its second day, and our match ER-Force vs. ZJUNlict. After ZJUNlict arrived yesterday afternoon due to VISA issues, their first game against Immortals initially seemed as if they couldn’t match their previous performances in past tournaments. However, after their test match against TIGERs Mannheim in the evening, it was clear to everyone: Those were just initial hiccups, ZJUNlict is playing at a world-class level. Accordingly, we’re eagerly anticipating today’s match.

You can find the livestream of the game as usual on RoboTeam Twente’s YouTube platform, as well as at this link.

First Half

05:00 The game starts in half an hour. Currently, the field is being vacuumed to avoid any disturbances from lint. There’s little visibility of the lines on the field, but fortunately, this only affects humans: The robot software has already been calibrated to the lines before the tournament, so no further adjustments are needed.
05:00 A beetle just crawled into our Robot 2, but no one seems to care. Looks like the hardware still has a bug.
05:00 ER-Force is playing with their white robots as the yellow team, and ZJUNlict is the blue team.
05:00 The game is kicked off with a 23-minute delay.
04:59 And a timeout for ZJUNlict right away. They seem to be facing hardware issues.
04:15 At least the game is running. However, neither of the teams is shining currently. Both teams seem to be having some issues with the radio communication.
03:43 Attack on the Erlangen goal, but our goalkeeper can hold it.
03:36 Expected goal by ZJUNlict. Our goalkeeper seems to be having radio communication problems, as he’s not moving at all.
03:36 Timeout for ER-Force, looks like they’re replacing robots, probably hoping to improve the radio signal for the goalkeeper. The goal has personnel consequences: A new goalkeeper is brought in, the old one is now getting a talking-to. Additionally, the new goalkeeper is being tested thoroughly.
03:36 Actually, apparently no goal! The ball was shot too quickly, so lucky break for us!
02:58 Right now, the game seems to look better, ER-Force bots can actually attack. However, the shot on the opponent’s goal is saved by their keeper, a bit clumsy though.
02:30 Currently, the game is more in the half of ZJUNlict. There are even passes now.
01:54 Apparently, there’s another discussion with ZJUNlict, which is why the game is currently not continuing.
01:54 ZJUNlict seems to have used a challenge flag, meaning they have questioned the referee’s decision. Background: Since we messed up ball placement too many times, we’re not allowed to do any more ball placements, and ZJUNlict will handle all ball placements instead. If they succeed, they get to kick off in any case, even if they kicked the ball out, otherwise, the team that didn’t kick out will kick off. There were apparently incidents during the ball placement, which resulted in ZJUNlict receiving a yellow card. They are now disputing this decision.
01:22 ZJUNlict has collected enough fouls, so they now have a yellow card. This card is active for 2 minutes. During the yellow card period, the team can have one less robot than the normal limit (11). However, since both teams are currently only using 7 robots, the yellow card has no real impact.
00:59 Attack on the Erlangen goal, but the ball can be cleared via a corner kick.
00:12 Our robot actually wins a duel against ZJUNlict, which is a good performance given their drill-like dribbler. But the following attack goes nowhere because our robot can’t control the ball.
00:00 Halftime, it’s 0:0. Towards the end, the game became somewhat more interesting, although it still doesn’t reach the level of quality we hope for. Both teams still seem to have significant hardware issues.

Second Half

05:00 The second half starts with a timeout for ZJUNlict.
05:00 Good kick-off by ER-Force, unfortunately not further capitalized, so the ball is held by ZJUNlict.
04:35 By now, the game is somewhat fluid, although the real excitement is missing. Here and there, double passes can be seen, overall the robots are playing quite confidently again.
04:08 Robot 12 (Lasagne) is causing problems in our goal, so it’s taken out briefly but then placed back on the field.
04:01 Timeout by ZJUNlict. With this timeout, ZJUNlict has used up all their minutes, so they are not allowed to take any more timeouts until the end of the game. Each team gets 5 minutes of timeout during the game and can split these into 4 timeouts.
03:40 Very dangerous situation for us: A shot on goal by a ZJUNlict robot, and our goalkeeper doesn’t react. Luckily, the shot goes just wide of the goal, but that could have been the decision maker. Maybe we should put an old robot in goal?
03:07 Another attack on our goal, but this time it’s saved. How long can we hold on?
02:28 The game is dragging a bit, not much exciting happening at the moment.
01:23 Self-inflicted goal. Attack from the side, but fortunately, the ball stays in the penalty area. However, instead of chipping it away, our goalkeeper slowly rolls the ball into the mouth of an opposing goalkeeper, who gratefully accepts this gift and converts it into a goal.
ER-Force 0 : 1 ZJUNlict
01:15 Unbelievable! An own goal by us a few seconds later! ZJUNlict contributed to this, as they naively dribbled with their kicker instead of just chipping it away. This is how the own goal in yesterday’s game TIGERs vs. ZJUNlict happened: Keeper dribbles, loses the ball, and it rolls into the goal due to spin.
ER-Force 1 : 1 ZJUNlict
01:01 Just let it roll through, that was the motto of our robots. Instead of stopping the ball, it rolls past all our bots towards the goal, but at least our goalkeeper decides to clear it with a chip kick.
00:34 After the game had been dragging on for a few minutes, there’s now a successful counterattack by ZJUNlict following a throw-in by ER-Force. The ball rolls successfully into the goal, so it’s likely to be 2:0.
ER-Force 1 : 2 ZJUNlict
00:34 Apparently, the goal is still being discussed, as ZJUNlict might have dribbled too far, which would be against the rules. Funny thing: Our team isn’t discussing it; we seem to have already accepted the goal. The discussion is only between the referees. In the end, the goal is accepted.
00:21 Another shot on goal, but this time the ball is moving at 7 m/s, which is too fast. The maximum allowed is 6 m/s.
00:00 Thus, the game ends. It wasn’t really beautiful, but not as ugly as the two games yesterday either. There’s certainly still plenty of room for improvement.

RoboCup: Review 1. Match Day

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The day started rather disappointingly: Instead of a nice match to begin with, our game against the Iranian-German team, Immortals, was far from impressive. There are initially many reasons for this: Mechanical plates, in particular, keep breaking, leading to many robots malfunctioning.

However, by the next match, there will be improvements, making outages due to mechanical damage rarer. Instead, now the electronics are starting to fail: Motorboards are dying here and there. Additionally, the HBC radio is not working for unknown reasons. We’re sure something isn’t quite right in our software and firmware stackup. After all, the HBC radio worked brilliantly at the fair.

Nevertheless, the second game isn’t too impressive either, although somewhat better. Our hardware team is now idle as all hardware defects have been completely fixed, and the outages are solely due to the radio and hence our firmware. Accordingly, we’re assisting our Dutch friends, Twente, and trying to get their robots up and running.

In the end, we can finish the day with some good news: A firmware bug is found, causing radio issues. Once this is fixed, the radio performance significantly improves, although there are still some packet losses. Our firmware team is now going into the night shift to find more bugs in our own code. The rest of the team is emotionally preparing for tomorrow’s match against the formidable opponent, ZJUNlict.

ZJUNlict had a test match against TIGERs Mannheim in the evening and lost the game 1:0, which, against TIGERs Mannheim, is not only noteworthy but also resulted from a trivial and entirely avoidable own goal by the goalkeeper. Both teams were evenly matched, even though TIGERs seemed to have a slight edge subjectively.

Therefore, we’re already looking forward to our game tomorrow at 09:00 AM, concluding today’s reporting.

RoboCup: ZJUNlict vs. Immortals

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First Half

05:00 The game starts with a fifteen-minute delay, ZJUNlict in blue, Immortals in yellow.
03:08 Good shot on ZJUNlict’s goal, but the goalkeeper saves it.
02:40 Strong duels continue in ZJUNlict’s half. Overall, ZJUNlict is currently not meeting the performance expectations we had from their previous game quality.
01:55 Another powerful shot on ZJUNlict’s goal, again saved by the keeper.
00:55 For a change, an attack by ZJUNlict, but the Immortals’ goalkeeper makes the save.
00:44 Another beautiful attack on ZJUNlict’s goal.
00:00 And thus, the first half comes to an end. Looking back, it’s clear that the game was dominated by Immortals, and ZJUNlict has significantly declined since their last tournament participation.

Second Half

05:00 And so, the second half continues without changing sides or colors.
04:49 Attack on ZJUNlict’s goal, but the goalkeeper defends.
03:47 Minor duels in the vicinity of ZJUNlict’s penalty area, but without results.
03:10 Nice ball duels with no interruptions. But everything has an end, and the ball finally ends up in ZJUNlict’s goal out of bounds.
02:52 Very nice play across the entire field. Close passes to the sidelines, but the robots handle it well. Initially an attack by ZJUNlict on Immortals, but then the tables turn, and there’s almost a goal for Immortals! Fortunately for ZJUNlict, the ball is cleared out of bounds.
00:45 The second half is meandering along. No real attacks, the ball is sometimes in ZJUNlict’s half, sometimes in Immortals’, but it always ends up out of bounds instead of leading to a goal attempt.
00:30 Immortals shoots the ball over the sideline boards. Also, screws are occasionally found on the field, likely from Immortals.
-00:07 A final hot attack, indeed from ZJUNlict, after a pass from one side of the field to the other. But the goalkeeper makes the save, and the game ends 0:0.