Category Archives: ER-Force

RoboCup 2024: Lower Final: ZJUNlict vs. ER-Force

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After our victory against RobôCIn last night, we play today in the Lower Final against ZJUNlict from China. This team has already met us once in the group stage, where we lost 0:1. So we expect an exciting match today as well. This time, however, we are playing 11 vs. 11 robots and not 8 vs. 8 like in the group stage. The game starts at 10:30 AM after the Lower Final of Division B.

The final day in Division A of the SSL is streamed again by Roboteam Twente. The numerous other finals of the other leagues can be watched on the RoboCup Live Channel.

First Half:

5:00 Smooth play in the first minute. ZJUNlict’s dominance is evident again, but so far our robots are very good at fending off all attacks.

4:00 We fumble a ball placement, but ZJUNlict sometimes fails at it too. Therefore, both teams are alternating kick-offs in our half of the field. So far, both teams are driving very carefully and there are few fouls. However, with rising temperatures and decreasing controller quality, this tends to get a bit worse for our robots. ZJUNlict is already taking their second timeout and has used up a lot of their timeout time.

3:00 Apparently, they are not yet satisfied with their strategy. Dangerous situation for us, but our robot does not shoot because there is no gap. That could have almost been the first goal. Shot from ZJUNlict, but our goalkeeper makes a perfect save.

2:00 We have accumulated 3 fouls and have to take out a robot. Corners are alternating in our half again. Despite their extremely strong dribbler, ZJUNlict has not been able to dominate us in duels so far. ZJUNlict challenges a corner that was awarded to us. Rightly so, as we were actually last to touch the ball.

1:00 No progress in our ball placement. Thus, we give the corner in our half to ZJUNlict. That is potentially dangerous. Fortunately, ZJUNlict’s robot fumbles the kick-off and we get another chance. So far, a balanced game. Timeout for ZJUNlict. Apparently, their strategy is causing problems again. ZJUNlict’s robots are moving again and the game continues. Tumult in front of our goal. Pass combination from ZJUNlict and a shot into our goal. But apparently, the shot was too fast. The score remains 0:0. Only 10 seconds left in the first half. But we give the corner to ZJUNlict. The field in front of our goal is damaged, but the referee decides to repair it at halftime.

Halftime

Both teams are working on the robots. We need to cool down our robots again and ZJUNlict is changing their batteries. The referees are trying to fix the field with some staples in the carpet, but the carpet has already suffered a lot from the numerous games.

Second Half

We take a short timeout as one of our radio modules seems to be having problems.

5:00 Kickoff for us. But our robot doesn’t shoot properly. Apparently, one of our robots is still having problems. We seem unable to perform ball placement from the goal. This has already happened twice in this game. ZJUNlict gets a yellow card for too many collisions. Apparently, one robot is not visible because it is stuck in a shadow. While solving the vision problems, our robots are slowly turning on the field as they have a position control implemented that still has a slight drift. TC/OC is brought to the vision computer, maybe it will continue soon. The referees are trying to remove the shadows from the field by shifting the screens for the game state. The game continues. Strong duel in the midfield, but we manage to prevent the ball from being shot at our goal.

4:00 We fail at ball placement. Thus, kick-off for ZJUNlict. Our robots are very confused by ZJUNlict’s strong dribbling. But it is also outstandingly good. Maybe we will achieve that in the coming years as well. Many passes in our half.

3:00 Two robots collide, resulting in yellow cards for both teams and both teams’ robots substitute themselves.

2:00 Neither team can make real progress and it is a constant back and forth duel. Unfortunately, we still lack a bit of precision, especially in handling the ball, and we often miss dangerous chances. Good pass combination from ZJUNlict. Shot at our goal and … converted. ZJUNlict takes the lead 1:0.

1:00 We take a short timeout. Apparently, we have significantly adjusted our strategy to be more aggressive. Our robots are now much stronger in the midfield and on ZJUNlict’s side. Unfortunately, we still lack precision in these last situations and we do not convert the shots. One last corner from ZJUNlict. But there was a referee’s error and the corner should have gone to us. In this faulty play, you can still see a brilliant save from our goalkeeper. He would have saved everything anyway.

We lose this game 0:1. Thus, we are out of the tournament. Nevertheless, we are happy about our third place, which would have been completely unthinkable with the quality of our play and robots two months ago.

The final ZJUNlict vs. TIGERs Mannheim takes place at 1:00 PM. Before that, there is the Division B final immediately following.

RoboCup 2024: KnockOut Phase: RobôCIn vs. ER-Force

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Our next knockout phase game is at 6:30 PM against the Brazilian team RobôCIn. Both teams are already preparing on the field and both are ready. The referee is asking about colors and side preferences. We are playing with blue patterns and our transparent shells. The Mid Size League is bombarding us with balls. The problem is that their balls are almost as big as our robots and thus pose a real danger.

First Half:

5:00 CIn fails the first ball placement. It’s our turn and we play good passes in RobôCIn’s half. But they are also strong and just as quickly the ball is dangerously close to our goal again. Our number 7 wants to be substituted.

4:00 Corner for RobôCIn but we defend very well. This is definitely a match between two equally strong opponents.

3:00 We have a corner. And the ball is out again. The referee places the ball manually. We have to take out a robot due to a yellow card. Corner for us. RobôCIn has too many robots on the field. We fumble a ball in RobôCIn’s penalty area and it bounces off their goalkeeper into the goal. 1:0 for us.

2:00 Kickoff and ball placement for us. Unfortunately, we can’t agree on which robot should place the ball and fail the ball placement. Duel at the midfield and little progress in the game. We take out another robot due to cards. Both teams can’t really move the ball and the kickoff keeps changing.

1:00 RobôCIn has a corner. Very little happens during RobôCIn’s ball placement. So the corner goes to us. Few seconds left and we can substitute a robot again. It’s also nice to see our robots switching out on their own. We place the ball in the midfield, but unfortunately don’t shoot properly. RobôCIn does nothing during ball placement again. We take advantage of that. But pass cautiously to the back and not towards the goal.

Halftime:

We cool down our robots again. But RobôCIn is also performing some spontaneous maintenance. RobôCIn takes another timeout to fix their ball placement problems. We are still waiting for RobôCIn to end their timeout.

Second Half:

5:00 Kickoff for us and immediately a tough duel in RobôCIn’s half. But both teams are equally good and can’t dribble perfectly. RobôCIn’s ball placement still doesn’t work. Their timeout apparently didn’t help. Therefore, we get the next chance and grab a free kick which we turn into a very dangerous pass combination. Unfortunately, we shoot wide.

4:00 Very close to taking the ball out of bounds and then it rolls into the goal. Unfortunately no goal because it was out before. Good back pass from us. But unfortunately not converted. RobôCIn takes another timeout to fix the ball placement, but it doesn’t work for the next corner either. Our number 7 is stuck and we lose the ball placement. It briefly had no signal.

3:00 Our keeper provokes a very dangerous situation. Luckily nothing happened. Long balls over the field again. But unfortunately, no team can take a real advantage. RobôCIn still can’t do ball placement and we get the free kick if we manage the placement, but it looks bad.

2:00 RobôCIn shoots too fast. Free kick in our half for RobôCIn, that’s dangerous. Duel in front of RobôCIn’s goal. But no real chance for us. We also struggle with ball placement. Timeout for RobôCIn. One last attempt to fix the ball placement.

1:00 Unfortunately, we also keep colliding with ourselves. Luckily, these are not fouls. We take a timeout to implement improvements in ball placement. Hopefully, it works. In a few seconds, a robot can be substituted again. Corner from RobôCIn in their half. Two of our robots are driving poorly and we take them out. Just before the end, RobôCIn’s ball placement works again. A shot at our goal aaand fortunately missed. That was very close at the end but the game is over.

So we play tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM against ZJUNlict and are at least third place in Division A of the Small Size League.

RoboCup 2024: KnockOut Phase: RoboDragons vs. ER-Force

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Our next knockout phase game is against the Japanese team RoboDragons. Kickoff is currently scheduled for 3:00 PM. However, the previous match between RobôCIn and Immortals seems to be delayed. The game will likely start around 3:15 PM. The game setup is still ongoing. We are playing in blue.

First Half

5:00 Kickoff for RoboDragons and the ball is out of bounds. We are currently struggling with ball placement, narrowly succeeded. Duel in RoboDragons’ half. Another close ball placement. RoboDragons’ strategy has obviously crashed but it’s currently ball placement, so they can restart their strategy now in a timeout. We use this timeout to change a parameter, hoping to reduce collisions. RoboDragons take a long time to restart their strategy. We continue. Our number 4 obviously has a problem. We make a bot substitution. Ball placement on the midfield line for us.

4:00 We keep shooting towards the goal but the reception isn’t quite right yet. Corner kick. Chip over the defense and goal for us. The score is 1:0 for us. But some of our bots are causing problems.

3:30 Constant ball placements and we shoot directly at Dragons’ bots. Unfortunately, little progress in the game in this situation. Many ball placements, unfortunately, only moderately successful on both sides.

2:30 Intense duel in front of our penalty area. Luckily, we can save it. But we did not cover ourselves in glory. We need to take out two robots.

1:30 Ball placement. It is noticeable that the high temperature in the hall is not good for the robots, and we detect more overheating, so we currently have very few robots on the field. Right now, we have only 8 robots. Wrong decision by the referee. Dragons rightly contest a referee’s decision, the foul is overturned. We have more robots on the field again. Hopefully, problems won’t arise again so quickly. RoboDragons also occasionally commit double touch. Ball placement for us. This time we make it. Corner kick for Dragons. Fast and exciting game on both sides. Double touch on both sides. Corner kick for Dragons. Card spam from the autoref. The red card for Dragons should probably be overturned soon. Discussions at the referee’s table. The red card was justified.

Halftime. The second half begins with 8 vs. 10 robots in our favor due to many cards for Dragons.

Second Half:

5:00 RoboDragons partially switched to white shells, but the pattern color remains the same. We stumble in ball placement but still manage to make it. RoboDragons’ strategy crashes again. This time we take the chance and convert the shot, 2:0 for us.

4:30 Some unclear situations on the field. We take a short timeout to fix a few things. Corner kick for Dragons and it looked for a moment like they had no robot in the goal. Lots of hacking in front of our penalty area, but unfortunately, no real progress in the last few minutes.

4:00 We duel across the field but have to pass the ball into empty space just before the goal, as no situation arises. Dragons push us into their penalty area. The referee overturns the foul call again.

3:00 We make some dumb moves in front of our penalty area, but luckily nothing happens. Fortunately, we manage to commit far fewer collisions in this game.

2:00 RoboDragons are once again not moving, but the ball placement and the free kick could go to us. However, it looks like we won’t make the ball placement either.

What is our keeper doing there? That was almost an own goal. Luckily, it went well and the ball rolled out of bounds. Our timeout is not properly accepted. The autorefs do not see an out, but our referees are luckily on the ball. It is noticeable that the vision at the tournament is not as good this time. Unfortunately, the current game is dragging a bit.

1:00 One of our robots loses a duel because it doesn’t shoot properly. We take it out at the next opportunity. RoboDragons commit many fouls and have to take out another robot. The ball rolls over the field a few more times and time is up. We win this game 2:0 and will play next tonight at 6:30 PM against RobôCIn.

RoboCup 2024: Knock-out Phase: TIGERs vs. ER-Force

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At 11:30 AM, we will play our first knockout phase game against TIGERs Mannheim. TIGERs won the RoboCup last year and have dominated all their games in this tournament so far. We expect a strong and challenging opponent. TIGERs play with a blue pattern color and their white shells. We play as the yellow team and have decided to remove the shell inlays due to heat issues. Therefore, our shells are translucent. RoboTeam Twente is streaming the game again with commentary. A special highlight in this game will be our robot handling. Dino from our mechanics team will be managing this in her dinosaur costume.

Both teams are getting ready. We currently have 13 functional robots. Hopefully, they will last as long as possible.

First Half:

5:00 Kickoff for TIGERs and we are competing well across the field, even managing to push the ball into TIGERs’ half.

4:30 Ball placement in TIGERs’ corner, but somehow it was assigned to TIGERs. Strongly parried by our defense and keeper. So far, we are seeing a balanced match, only slightly dominated by TIGERs. Both teams can place the balls very well, but unfortunately, we still stumble over some of our kicks. That’s unfortunate.

3:30 Many dangerous corners from TIGERs in front of our goal. But so far, we are holding up very well.

3:00 All our robots are still running. Shot on goal for TIGERs and converted. The score is 0:1. We have kickoff, stumble with the ball. Now we have to take a robot off, which is Dino’s entry. But TIGERs also commit a foul, so we are now playing 10 robots against 10. We need to free one of our robots in a timeout. So far, the game looks very good, considering how strongly TIGERs have dominated other opponents.

2:00 Another goal for TIGERs, 0:2. Their passing game is simply outstanding, allowing them to get past our defense.

1:00 Some crashes on our side, as our robots are still not driving precisely despite the new regulation. Therefore, we get another yellow card. TIGERs have a kickoff in our half, and we have to take another robot off beforehand. Unfortunately, our regulation still swings too much, and we keep collecting yellow cards, so we now have to play 10 robots against 11 permanently with a red card. It’s a shame, but the regulation has only been in place for a few games, and there are still some timing issues. Corner for TIGERs.

Nice chip from us. We are competing very well and even manage to take the ball from TIGERs a few times. End of the first half. During the halftime break, we need to cool down our robots again.

Second Half:

5:00 Kickoff for us, but unfortunately, we stumble again. Immensely good passing game for TIGERs across the field. Another goal for TIGERs, making it 0:3. Despite everything, we keep fighting bravely and defending as best as we can.

4:00 We produce another collision, but luckily our previous yellow card had already expired, and we didn’t get another red card.

3:30 The numerical disadvantage is very noticeable. TIGERs dominate and score another goal, making it 0:5.

3:00 Another goal for TIGERs. Our robots were clearly in the wrong position. Unfortunately, we keep missing our kicks and giving them away to TIGERs. Occasionally, our robots are also too fast, so we collect card after card. The score is 0:7.

2:00 Another corner for TIGERs. With our significant numerical disadvantage, the game is increasingly turning in favor of TIGERs. The score is 0:8. The next goal will end the game.

1:00 We have a kickoff in our half and bring the ball directly to TIGERs, where they immediately dominate again. They dribble freely and score another goal, 0:9. Can we hold on for the last few seconds of the game? Yes, we can. We are not defeated 0:10 by TIGERs. Considering TIGERs’ dominance and our significant numerical disadvantage, this is an acceptable result. TIGERs show off their victory moves, but our robots interfere a bit, causing some laughs among the spectators and team members.

We will play next at 3:00 PM against RoboDragons.

RoboCup 2024: Second Group Matchday

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Heat Issues

Since none of our matches lasted longer than an hour, it can be said with certainty that this RoboCup is one of the smoothest in a long time. We survived the first two matches of the day well against LUHBots and KIKS, but the heat issues became more severe. Despite a lot of code for error detection and handling, as well as constant tweaking of the regulation, a drastic decision had to be made. As Dino so nicely put it: “We fight fire with saws.” The solution to the heat problem was to saw off unnecessary parts from all module connector boards. Subsequently, the boards were sanded to avoid sharp edges. Meanwhile, heatsinks had to be attached to all motor boards, and the shells were perforated with holes. This several-hour job, which involved almost the entire team, paid off. In the match against ZJUNlict, we did not have a single heat-related failure, and we performed better than any other participant in Group A against them.

Group Matches

After playing our first group match against RobôCIn yesterday, we had three more group matches today. We started the day with a balanced match against KIKS, which ended 1:1 due to an unfortunate last-second goal. We won our match against LUHBots at noon clearly with 2:0. The last match of the group phase was our match against ZJU, where we defended strongly but ultimately lost 0:1 to this really good team. The results of the group stage can be seen below.

Standings

Position Group A Group B
1 ZJUNlict TIGERs
2 ER-Force Immortals
3 RobôCIn RoboDragons
4 KIKS Robo Team Twente
5 LUHBots

Outlook

By finishing second in our group, we qualified for the knockout phase. Our next match is tomorrow at 11:30 against TIGERs Mannheim. Since we start in the upper bracket of our double elimination tournament format, we still have at least one more game even if we lose this match, allowing us to stay in the tournament.