RoboCup 2024: Group Phase: ER-Force vs. luhbots

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Our second group match today is against LUHBots from Hannover. LUHBots is now the third German team in the SSL and has been participating in RoboCup since last year. Based on our observations and past games, we expect a balanced and exciting match. Kickoff is at 12:00. The Twente livestream will again show this game with live commentary.

We are playing 8 vs. 8 robots. ER-Force is playing with white shells and yellow pattern color. LUHBots is the blue team and wears black shells.

First Half:

5:00 – Kickoff for us, but something is not right as not all of our robots are moving. We take a timeout. Luckily, nothing happened and no goal was scored during this time.

4:30 – LUHBots places the ball in their half. We get the ball taken away just before LUHBots’ goal. Too bad, that could have been a good situation.

4:00 – Finally, more of our robots are on the field again. Ball placement in the corner next to LUHBots’ goal. Corner kick. Another new robot for us. Obviously, there were flash problems at the beginning. Shot on goal, but unfortunately just missed.

3:30 – Corner for us. That could have been a dangerous situation. Another attempt, and goal! 1:0 for us. Kickoff for LUHBots. Our number 0 has problems. Duel in our half. We commit a foul, and LUHBots gets a free kick. Luckily, our robots are dueling well.

3:00 – Ball placement, and LUHBots is in our half again. Battle in front of LUHBots’ goal. Good passing game, but unfortunately not converted, and we shoot out. Battle in the midfield, and we bring the ball back in front of LUHBots’ goal. The keeper from LUHBots has the ball.

1:30 – Very fast and fluid game. Passes across the field. We see two teams on par, playing very well together. Both LUHBots and we fail at ball placement, and there is no progress.

1:00 – Once again, we couldn’t manage to take the ball just before the goal, missing another good chance.

0:30 – Our number 7 is having problems again. This robot wants to get to the ball, and so not much is happening.

Halftime: We give our robots a breather. The game will resume in a few minutes. Nice to see how quickly such fluid games pass by.

Second Half:

5:00 – Kickoff for LUHBots. The ball is immediately pushed in front of LUHBots’ goal. And ball placement at the midfield. Duel at the midfield.

4:00 – Shot on goal by LUHBots, but unfortunately missed. We place the ball in the corner. Obviously a wrong decision by the auto-ref, as this goal kick should have gone to LUHBots. Passing game. The game is paused, we don’t know exactly why. Probably because of one of our robots on the edge. Referee and robot handler are discussing. The situation is obviously not quite clear. It is about when a robot can be taken off the field.

3:30 – The game continues at the midfield.

3:00 – Strong passing game, but unfortunately, we don’t approach precisely and miss this and the next chance for a shot on goal. Our number 12 wants to be replaced but drives to the wrong side, and our robot handler has to sprint around the field. Unfortunately, spectators are in the way.

2:30 – We are surprisingly often driving away from the ball, and due to heat problems, we are driving increasingly worse.

1:30 – The ball is back in play, and we bring it to the opponent’s half.

1:00 – Shot on goal, but well saved by LUHBots’ keeper. Ball placement by LUHBots. One of LUHBots’ robots is too close to the field and commits a foul. They take a timeout 37 seconds before the end. The game resumes.

0:30 – Nice play in front of LUHBots’ penalty area. Great passing game by our robots and immediately converted. 2:0. Kickoff for LUHBots. The ball is immediately dangerous in front of our goal again, but our defense holds fortunately. LUHBots commits a foul. We shoot the ball out, and the game is over.

That was an entertaining and nice game.

RoboCup 2024: Group Match: ER-Force vs. KIKS

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Our second group match is against KIKS from Japan.

First Half:

5:00 – The game begins with a timeout for KIKS. We initially play with our black shell inlay and KIKS with their white bands. This will likely be swapped at halftime. Kickoff. Nice duel in front of our penalty area and we are already in front of KIKS’ goal.

4:30 – KIKS has significantly improved compared to previous years, and their ball placement works very well now. Many good chances for us in front of KIKS’ goal, but unfortunately, we stumble over the ball here and there, missing opportunities.

4:00 – One of our robots is driving a bit crooked and is replaced. It’s great to see that both teams contribute to a fluid game with good ball placements.

3:00 – We have to take down a robot due to a yellow card, which creates an interesting situation for ball placement as the game controller switches to stop. Actually, it would be KIKS’ turn for ball placement now since we didn’t succeed.

2:00 – For the first time, we see one of our robots drive to the edge on its own to be replaced due to an error. Great performance by our strategists to implement this so spontaneously for RoboCup. We are waiting for referee decisions. The ball is in front of our penalty area, and we kick off. The ball rolls across the field. Very good play from us. But unfortunately, now and then, a robot is not in the right place, and we miss a pass.

1:00 – Unfortunately, we pass into empty space too often, otherwise, we could have scored many goals. We place the ball in our half. Unfortunately, the robot doesn’t drive properly, and KIKS is allowed to place the ball in our half.

0:30 – Ball placement by KIKS and we are back in their penalty area.

Halftime: KIKS changes batteries and both teams swap the colors of their shells.

Second Half:

5:00 – The second half begins. Both teams have kept their pattern color but changed the shell color. Kickoff for us. Unfortunately, the pass goes into empty space again, and both teams have to take out a robot due to yellow cards.

4:30 – Goal for us. We deflected a ball so that it rolled into the goal. Ball placement for us, unfortunately not successful, and KIKS takes over.

4:00 – Intense battle in the midfield. Ball placement in the midfield. Hard duels in the midfield. Unfortunately, our robot loses, and KIKS has the ball again.

3:30 – Two ball placements directly in a row and very little progress in between. KIKS signals a challenge flag. We are not sure why. Let’s see when it continues. We take out our number 10 because it is not playing properly, but a new robot is already ready.

3:00 – We place the ball in a very difficult situation. But with well-driving robots, it works again.

2:00 – KIKS shuts down one of our robots when it pushes against the ball. Unfortunately, we fail the ball placement. Battle in the midfield. Our new regulation doesn’t drive perfectly yet, which unfortunately affects the quality of the ball placement. Chip across the field, luckily KIKS touches it shortly before, and we can play the ball.

1:30 – We shoot at the goal. But unfortunately too fast. A robot replaces itself due to a yellow card. Nice to see. Unfortunately, we are driving a bit drunkenly. One of the robots with a broken light barrier wants to place the ball but can’t shoot.

1:00 – A puzzling decision by the automatic referee. KIKS has the kickoff and dribbles past our robots. Shoots at the goal and… unfortunately, a goal in the last second.

A well-deserved 1:1 for both teams, which have their problems but play fluidly overall.

RoboCup 2024: Impressions of First Match Day

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After the arrival and setup days over the past few days, today marks the start of the actual tournament of our league at RoboCup. Initially, there are two group stage days followed by the knockout round.

Technical Challenge

Our day began with the Team vs. Team Pass Challenge. As with the technical challenges of recent years, four of our robots must pass the ball to each other as accurately as possible. The new twist this year is that another team attempts the same challenge simultaneously with the same ball. The teams, therefore, take the ball away from each other and must pass in such a way that the balls stay out of the opponent’s reach.

RoboCup Feeling

With today, RoboCup officially opens its doors to spectators. With the spectators and the first group stage games, we are increasingly experiencing the typical RoboCup feeling, characterized by a cool community with a touch of competition. Many media representatives were also present in the hall today. Our mechanics team, for example, gave a short interview for Omroepbrabant.

Our Match

The highlight of today’s day was undoubtedly our first group match against RobôCIn. There is also a detailed blog about it. A new FOC regulation of our motors was used for the first time in a game. During the halftime break, we had to repair and realign the shells of some robots, as they had taken some damage from collisions during the game.

Official Roles

In addition to our own games, we also have to take on official roles for other matches. Members of our team serve as referees, game controller operators, or vision experts, ensuring a smooth game.

RoboCup 2024: Group Phase: ER-Force vs. RobôCin

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Now it’s our turn, and we are about to start our first official match of this RoboCup in just a few minutes. Our first group match starts at 3:00 PM against the Brazilian team RoboCin.

This match can be watched live on RoboTeam Twente’s livestream.

Before the match, final repairs are being made to the field, as the field lines are already starting to come off after just a few games.

First Half:

05:00 – Kick-off, the match begins. ER-Force is playing with white shells and yellow color.

4:30 – Good passing and a tough fight, and the ball is out. One of our robots seems to have temporary radio issues, and we take this robot out of the game. We are playing 7 vs. 8. Ball placement for RoboCin and intense play near our goal. Challenge flag from RoboCin. The game is stuck in a stalemate, and the game controller operator seems unsure of how to proceed.

4:00 – Intense play with big passes across the field. Ball placement for us. Finally, after a year of many failed attempts, we manage the ball placement again. The ball is in our half again, and our robots immediately manage to play it back to the opponent.

3:30 – Both we and RoboCin receive yellow cards for some light crashes.

3:00 – Problems with the game controller. There is another game controller on the network again. Our strategy and the audio ref are immediately causing problems. Fixing the problem will probably take a few minutes. The game resumes. The RoboCin robot can’t dribble but still manages the ball placement. Our robots are successful in defense and repeatedly fend off the opponents.

2:30 – Intense battle from our robots in front of our penalty area. Corner successfully defended.

2:00 – Very dangerous situations in front of our penalty area. Our defense let the ball through but no goal. Ball placement for RoboCin in their half.

1:30 – Long shot across the field and the ball is out again and needs to be placed by us. Nice chip kick but unfortunately, our robot couldn’t receive it.

1:00 – Parts are found on the field. Luckily they are not from us. Ball placement by RoboCin. Poor defense from us. Unfortunately, we are dueling very poorly, creating dangerous situations again and again.

0:30 – We challenge a potential excessive dribbling, which we believe was actually pushing by an opposing robot.

Half-time: The score remains 0:0 in this intense and exciting game.

Second Half:

5:00 – Kick-off for blue, double touch, and we have the kick-off. Foul by RoboCin. Very close situation in front of the RoboCin goal, but not converted.

4:30 – Ball placement for RoboCin. As always, with very little dribbling. Strong defense by our number 6. One of our robots had no radio, but it recovered just in time for ball placement.

4:00 – Successful defense by our robots. Unfortunately, a lot of dribbling is happening in front of our penalty area.

3:00 – Timeout for us. We need to restart one of our robots as it apparently went off during a collision. The referee is confused, asking us if we are ready to continue during our timeout. The game resumes.

2:30 – Intense battle in front of our penalty area. Ball placement for us in the opponent’s half. Success.

2:00 – Again, intense power play in our penalty area. Potential goal for us, but before that, the ball was shot too fast by RoboCin. Therefore, discussions ensue. Goal for us. It was very difficult to hold as it was deflected by RoboCin’s defender. The game continues. Kick-off for RoboCin.

1:30 – Immediate intense battle. Unfortunately, the ball is out. Ball placement by RoboCin. Nice chip over our robot, but the ball quickly goes out again. RoboCin is discussing again. The game resumes. Now the referee has to manually place the ball. RoboCin chips the ball out again. We are stuck in the opponent’s goal. Of course, this is a yellow card and a foul for us. Dangerous shot by RoboCin but saved. We place the ball, and RoboCin is discussing again. We don’t know why. They take a timeout.

1:00 – Ball placement for RoboCin, but their robot seems to have problems with it, and we get to try. Kick-off. Immediately the ball is back on the opponent’s side. Strong defense by number 5.

0:30 – Intense play on the opponent’s side. Only a few seconds left on the clock. Robot crash during ball placement. The ball is out, and the game is over.

It’s great to see that after the drought in the last RoboCup, we can finally win games again.