After nearly a year, it’s finally time again: RoboCup 2024 is here, this year in the Dutch city of Eindhoven! Teams from all over the world and various leagues are currently traveling and will all try to claim first place in their respective leagues!
Of course, our team is also ready to go, and this morning 14 students from our team boarded a train in Nuremberg heading to Essen. What they didn’t know at the time: The train in Düsseldorf that would take them to Venlo doesn’t exist. This brings back memories of a popular meme from last year:
So, our travel group will likely arrive at the hotel in Eindhoven with an estimated delay of one hour and begin to take over the hotel rooms and floors for us and our robots. Starting next week, our team will be allowed into the hall!
By the way: Besides us, this year’s Division A will also feature teams ZJUNlict (China), KIKS (Japan), RoboCîn (Brazil), luhbots (Germany), TIGERs Mannheim (reigning world champion, Germany), Immortals (Germany), RoboDragons (Japan), and RoboTeam Twente (Netherlands). From experience, TIGERs Mannheim, ZJUNlict, and Immortals are particularly strong teams that we need to surpass!
Now that the German Open, the second April tournament, has come to an end, we would like to take a brief look back at the event.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t win a trophy at this tournament either, but we gained valuable insights into our system and were able to significantly improve it towards the end. We started the tournament on Wednesday with completely new motor drivers and the associated problems, but we gradually got a handle on them.
It’s a pity that our last game on Saturday against TIGERs Mannheim was just a friendly match: If we had performed the same way the day before against Immortals, the tournament might have ended quite differently. But no matter: With the experiences and measurement data we were able to collect from this tournament, we can now enter RoboCup 2024 stronger and hopefully win big prizes there.
But the tournament was not only valuable for us: TIGERs Mannheim, Immortals, and Tritons also surely gained valuable insights. It’s a shame that Tritons couldn’t play in the end. It seems there is still some work to be done before real games can be played. All the more helpful that they had many opportunities at the German Open to exchange ideas with our team members and those of TIGERs and gather helpful input on how to solve the upcoming problems.
And finally, the tournament also seemed to be well received by the spectators: On the final day, the field was surrounded by visitors during both our friendly match and the final, eagerly following the game’s progress. Time and again, some children started chanting “ER-Force” – to such an extent that we had to assure TIGERs that we had not paid any of the spectators to be our cheering squad.
So we leave Kassel with the firm hope of being able to visit again next year when it’s time for RoboCup German Open 2025!
And the game begins. TIGERs will play in yellow, while Immortals is the blue team.
04:25
After the ball was briefly in the TIGERs’ half, the tide quickly turns, and TIGERs begin a counterattack. This ends in Immortals’ goal, putting TIGERs ahead by one goal.
Immortals 0 : 1 TIGERs Mannheim
04:14
Another shot at Immortals’ goal, but this time the team can save it.
03:51
The pressure on Immortals does not let up. One shot on goal follows another, and at first, the defense holds. But eventually, it’s time: Goal for Mannheim!
Immortals 0 : 2 TIGERs Mannheim
03:34
That was somewhat sketchy for Mannheim standards: The ball placement wasn’t quite pretty, then they disturbed the opponent a bit, couldn’t shoot the ball accurately, and finally even kicked the ball out of the field. This earned Mannheim a yellow card, meaning they will play with one less robot for the next 2 minutes.
02:49
A strong back-and-forth on the field: Sometimes the ball is in TIGERs’ half, sometimes in Immortals’. But eventually, it ends up with Immortals – in their goal!
Immortals 0 : 3 TIGERs Mannheim
02:26
After some sluggish corners that Immortals unfortunately couldn’t place, it’s back to the attack for TIGERs. But Immortals can clear at the last second by deflecting the ball out of bounds.
02:20
A little outburst from the Immortals robots: Some of them spin quite quickly in circles, making the Immortals members a bit uneasy, but the problem seems to fix itself.
02:17
And now it’s time again: Eventually, the TIGERs robot manages to get past the Immortals’ defense and shoot the ball into the goal.
Immortals 0 : 4 TIGERs Mannheim
02:06
And immediately another successful shot on goal by TIGERs Mannheim. They increase their lead to 5.
Immortals 0 : 5 TIGERs Mannheim
02:05
The first substitution of the game: An Immortals robot has to come off.
01:55
Another shot on goal by TIGERs, but this time the ball is too high, so the goal doesn’t count.
01:15
And another goal by TIGERs Mannheim. The AI referee reports again that the ball is too high, but we doubt that. And indeed, the human referee decides: Goal by Mannheim!
Immortals 0 : 6 TIGERs Mannheim
00:28
Again a very nice and fluid game by both teams. No interruptions disturb the flow of the game. The Immortals bots fight against the goal threat for a long time, but eventually, it’s time for another goal by Mannheim.
Immortals 0 : 7 TIGERs Mannheim
-00:05
And of course, TIGERs often finish the first half with another shot on goal, so we go into halftime with a score of 8:0.
Immortals 0 : 8 TIGERs Mannheim
Second Half
05:00
And so the second half begins. The teams have switched sides, which is actually rather unusual in modern SSL games.
04:30
Still a fairly quiet game in the second half so far. Eventually, TIGERs start an attack, but Immortals simply shoot the ball out of the field.
04:13
Again, strong pressing by TIGERs Mannheim, but the ball just misses the goal.
03:55
And the pressing continues, but this time it doesn’t end well for Immortals: The ninth goal for Mannheim!
Immortals 0 : 9 TIGERs Mannheim
03:18
Although the ball lands in Immortals’ goal, it was obviously a chip shot. Therefore, the goal doesn’t count.
03:08
Indeed, a rare moment where TIGERs have to substitute a robot.
02:50
Strong defense by Immortals, but the pressure on them is still immense. Let’s see how long they can withstand the pressure.
02:40
Well, it didn’t last long. After a nice attack, it’s ironically the Immortals goalkeeper who deflects the ball into the goal. Thus, the game ends early at 10:0, and TIGERs Mannheim can now officially call themselves the German SSL champions!
Although we weren’t supposed to have another game today since Tritons unfortunately can’t compete in the small final (they aren’t even in the hall anymore), we are playing a friendly match against TIGERs Mannheim.
This game has a special feature: TIGERs will always play with the same number of robots as we have on the field. This has already led them to take one robot off the field before the game started.
First Half
05:00
The game begins: ER-Force is playing in yellow, TIGERs in blue.
04:06
With a few outbursts, we are actually playing quite well and even have a few shots on goal now and then.
04:06
At some point, there was probably a goal, but none of us noticed. We trust TIGERs on this one, so: Goal for TIGERs.
ER-Force 0 : 1 TIGERs Mannheim
03:36
After heated duels in our half, our robot seems to lose interest and kicks the ball mercilessly out of the field.
03:21
The duels continue in our half. Eventually, TIGERs manage to score.
ER-Force 0 : 2 TIGERs Mannheim
03:02
Still some nice scenes from our robots and occasionally a shot on goal. Definitely a much better performance than the last two days.
02:01
Again, some nice game situations for both sides. Overall, the game is quite fluid, and there are some nice long passes from both teams across the field. A very lively and balanced game.
00:34
The stream of this game is really recommended. We no longer give Mannheim any gaps or breaks; our goal is currently secure.
-00:29
The last minute has been dangerously long in our half, and there have been some scary moments. But the first half ends without another goal, our defense still holds.
Second Half
05:00
And the second half begins.
04:28
Again, the ball is in our half for a long time, and our goalkeeper is intensely arguing with one of our field players. Moreover, he simply doesn’t kick the ball away. And so it happens: Goal for Mannheim!
ER-Force 0 : 3 TIGERs Mannheim
04:02
OK, that was unfortunate: For some reason, our communication didn’t work, maybe someone bumped into it. As a result, our robots just stood still, and TIGERs could shoot into the undefended goal.
ER-Force 0 : 4 TIGERs Mannheim
02:50
Now the game is playing a bit more in the Mannheim half. Let’s see if we can score a goal against the world champion.
01:24
An extremely long game in midfield and the TIGERs’ half. Our robots keep trying for the goal, but they just can’t get past the defense and the goalkeeper.
00:59
That was close! A short duel near our goal, then the shot, but just missed! The score remains unchanged.
00:52
But now, unfortunately, it happened: Still dueling in our half, but our robots sometimes just don’t shoot. Probably the light barrier doesn’t recognize the ball. Be that as it may: Goal for TIGERs.
ER-Force 0 : 5 TIGERs Mannheim
00:34
And timeout for us: The AI is set to aggressive.
00:09
That’s the disadvantage of Main Aggressive: When the ball comes into our half, there are no defenders left. And so another goal is scored against us. But what the heck: It was still worth it.
ER-Force 0 : 6 TIGERs Mannheim
00:00
And so the game unfortunately ends goalless for us. But still, it was a very nice culmination for the tournament: Eight of our robots were on the field and could play for an entire half. Even our Victory Move was not prepared for that; it apparently can’t handle so many robots. So we let TIGERs have their Victory Moves. For now.
The third and final day of the Major League begins with a very special event: As part of a Technical Challenge, the self-built robots of the Junior League will face the world champion TIGERs Mannheim. The challenge: Keep their heads above water as long as possible and not be overrun by TIGERs.
However, to make this possible, the Junior Bots must first be modified: Since they drive autonomously with onboard cameras across the field, the TIGERs would mercilessly roll over them due to the lack of a color pattern on their heads. Therefore, makeshift patterns were created yesterday, which can be mounted on the Junior bots to enable camera detection through our SSL software.
Before the actual game starts, an individual Technical Challenge for the teams takes place: Each team gets a few minutes to try to detect and score as many of the golf balls scattered on the field as possible with up to two robots. This proves to be very difficult, as the Defense Area, which may only be entered by the goalkeeper, is very large in our league, making it hard for the Junior teams to shoot the ball into the goal. Only the Atlantis team manages to score two goals in this challenge.
After this individual Technical Challenge, it’s time to stick together: The robots of all Junior League teams now play together against three robots of TIGERs Mannheim. Their robots have also been significantly toned down. For example, the robots are only allowed to move at one meter per second. For comparison: The field is 12 meters wide, so a TIGERs bot would take several seconds to cross from one side to the other.
First Half
05:00
The game starts with a kickoff for TIGERs. Currently, the Junior Bots are only blocking the goal, but let’s see how this extraordinary game develops.
03:55
After some hesitant maneuvers in midfield by TIGERs, their robots finally move towards the goal. There, the TIGERs bot shoots, and the ball rolls past the motionless Juniors.
Juniors 0 : 1 TIGERs Mannheim
03:45
Now there’s some life in the game! After a kickoff by the Juniors, one of their robots drives straight towards the goal, but unfortunately, it only rolls out of bounds with the ball.
03:40
The missed shot at the goal immediately punishes the Juniors: The TIGERs drive with the ball towards the goal and shoot again. The goalkeeper tries to defend but can’t hold the ball.
Juniors 0 : 2 TIGERs Mannheim
03:22
Unbelievable! The Junior Bots manage not only to get the ball towards the goal successfully but also to score! They are catching up.
Juniors 1 : 2 TIGERs Mannheim
03:16
The joy for the Junior Leagues doesn’t last long: TIGERs come right back into the game and shoot at the goal again, this time even an empty goal.
Juniors 1 : 3 TIGERs Mannheim
02:58
And another successful shot at an empty goal by TIGERs Mannheim. This increases Mannheim’s lead to four goals.
Juniors 1 : 4 TIGERs Mannheim
01:44
The Juniors put up some resistance here and there, and occasionally there is a shot at the goal, but it all helps nothing: Another goal for TIGERs Mannheim!
Juniors 1 : 5 TIGERs Mannheim
01:23
This time, the Juniors rely on aggression and start with all their robots in the center circle. The ball comes close to the TIGERs’ goal but lacks execution. TIGERs can defend.
01:05
And TIGERs show again that you can’t show weakness towards them: Their robots increase the lead to five goals!
Juniors 1 : 6 TIGERs Mannheim
00:46
Very good defense by the Juniors! TIGERs try to aim at the goal, but the Junior Bots defend vehemently and can even stand their ground in a duel.
00:41
But the goal can’t be defended for long: TIGERs finally score to make it 7:1!
Juniors 1 : 7 TIGERs Mannheim
00:27
Unfortunately, the Juniors’ strength fades again, and TIGERs score another goal with no goalkeeper present.
Juniors 1 : 8 TIGERs Mannheim
00:07
And another shot at the empty goal by TIGERs, bringing them one goal away from an early victory.
Juniors 1 : 9 TIGERs Mannheim
00:00
Now it comes down to it, the Junior Bots give their all to keep their goal tight. With great effort, one of the robots tries to prevent the goal, but TIGERs show no mercy: The final goal of the game is scored, and TIGERs win 10:0!
Juniors 1 : 10 TIGERs Mannheim
Of course, it was already clear in advance that TIGERs would probably have the upper hand in a home game, especially since they are the world champions. Nevertheless, it was a very entertaining game that attracted many spectators. Hopefully, it also pleased the Juniors and motivated them for future participation in RoboCup events!
