Category Archives: Journey

BuGa 2023: ER-Force vs. TIGERs Mannheim

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Now it’s finally time: The tournament at the Bundesgartenshow 2023 officially begins with the first match of the group stage: ER-Force vs. TIGERs Mannheim.

We’re incredibly excited about the game, as we were able to achieve very positive results with our robots during the course of yesterday and this morning: While our new radio system had significant issues at RoboCup, the tests looked extremely promising yesterday evening. Together with the HBC team, the manufacturer of our radio system, and with the support of Gerhard Schubert, we made significant progress in the last two weeks. Everyone involved has put in many hours to push the radio system to the level of perfection we were used to from INTERPACK 2023 in May. The HBC radio worked perfectly there, completely unaffected by the numerous trade show Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices.

Important note: Unlike RoboCup, all games at Bundesgartenshow are played with walls (bande), which means there are no out-of-bounds. This is an experiment by the organizers to see how well it works. We can expect very fluid games since out-of-bounds is the most frequent game interruption.

Since there’s unfortunately no livestream, the game will be provided as a video later.

First Half

05:00 The game starts with over 10 minutes delay, which is usually the case for the first game of the day and the tournament.
05:00 Unfortunately, a larger part of the first half could not be ticked due to personnel reasons. We’re currently limited in staff. As far as possible, the ticker will be updated. Unlike RoboCup, we have only 7 people for this tournament, which is definitely too few. Still a good experience: We estimate that we could fill all personnel gaps with 10 – 11 people, which is valuable for future tournaments. However, it doesn’t reduce the stress of this tournament.
02:30 So far, a very fluid game. A positive point to note is that our HBC radio can finally unleash the potential that it has. The robots are moving very smoothly, following their commands! We are currently playing with 4 new and 2 old robots.
01:00 Own goal by us! That’s unfortunate, it could have been avoided and must definitely be considered as part of our strategy, but there’s nothing we can do about it now.
ER-Force 0 : 1 TIGERs Mannheim
00:26 Very dangerous situation in our half. But in the end, our goalkeeper clears it to the right side, defusing the situation.
00:06 So far, a very fast and fluid game, which is, of course, due to the walls (bande) being used, resulting in no out-of-bounds.
-01:27 The game was quite balanced towards the end. Since the game is no longer interrupted due to out-of-bounds, it’s running for a long time, and now it’s stopped only because of a crash and the first half is whistled. Overall, it’s nice to watch; the decision against out-of-bounds adds a lot to the entertainment value for the spectators.

Second Half

05:00 Kick-off for the second half.
04:24 Yellow card for TIGERs, as they have accumulated three minor fouls during the game (they held the ball with the dribbler for too long twice and caused a crash at the end of the first half). Meanwhile, we’re replacing a robot.
04:24 Currently, there seem to be some minor issues with the network, causing the game to pause. During matches in our league, a central computer continuously receives camera data, processes it, and sends the resulting robot positions and velocities, along with referee commands and other information, via the local network to the team PCs, which then derive their game decisions from it and send them to the robots via radio. Therefore, a faulty network is a major problem for the game.
04:24 Apparently, the RefBox has also been successfully destroyed: The RefBox is a piece of software into which the human referee can input decisions, and where all decisions of the AI referee come together and are more or less clearly displayed. It seems that an attempt is being made to roll out a very old version of the RefBox, in which the “Game Controller” (the person supporting the referee who sits in front of the RefBox) has to manually input all commands, something that has been banned for years. Long-time members still have muscle memory for operating the old RefBox via the number pad, but the younger ones groan about the “Stone Age technology”.
04:24 Other than that, a brief update: Nothing has been broken so far; our hardware is running flawlessly, especially the new robots. So, in this area too, we’ve made significant progress compared to RoboCup. The one robot that was replaced was an old one and even it was driving a bit crooked, but didn’t show any serious issues.
04:24 The game continues, but ER-Force immediately takes a timeout. Apparently, our software doesn’t have the new radio system perfectly integrated yet, causing the software to occasionally lose the connection. Had to restart briefly, now everything is running smoothly again.
05:00 Apparently, they restarted the time after changing the RefBox.
03:48 Dangerous duel near our goal with a TIGERs bot, but we can clear the ball again.
03:35 Interruption of the game after TIGERs kick the ball out of the field towards the audience! Good thing they’re already one and a half meters above the field behind a railing.
03:05 After some good passes by TIGERs, one of their robots messes up the reception, much to our delight!
03:00 TIGERs’ yellow card has expired, so we’re back to playing 6 vs. 6.
02:22 Good situation for us in Mannheim’s penalty area, but their goalkeeper can clear it.
02:06 Another nice situation in TIGERs’ goal.
01:35 And right away, the attack in front of our goal, but our defense stands strong!
00:45 This time the ball goes out of the field through us. Playing with walls is new for both teams, not everything is smooth yet, especially in connection with the edges of the field.
-00:14 And the game ends 1:0 for TIGERs Mannheim with an own goal from us. As usual, TIGERs Mannheim ends their game with a victory dance, this time including the Cantina Band and a little dance.

In retrospect, it was a very nice game and much more to our liking! Everything went smoothly, the radio worked brilliantly, the hardware functioned perfectly. Of course, there’s always room for improvement, and that must also be the aspiration, but still, we can be very satisfied with the game. This will definitely be an exciting tournament!

Test Tournament in Mannheim

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And once again, our team is continuing at high speed this year! Hardly have our guests from Uruguay returned to their home country, and we’re already moving forward in with a test tournament hosted by the world champion TIGERs Mannheim and their Dual University Baden-Württemberg as part of the Bundesgartenshow 2023 in Mannheim.

And so it’s already 07:54 AM for us at Erlangen Central Station, as we’re off to Baden-Württemberg, this time only using regional trains and the Germany Ticket for cost reasons. Surprisingly, there are no train delays, and by 1:00 PM, we can enter the sacred halls of the BuGa.

As with all our other trips, the first order of business in Mannheim is: Arrive, unpack, and start. It doesn’t take half an hour before the entire space provided to us is occupied with various equipment, chargers, and soldering irons.

Soon, the field for testing should be available, allowing us to make our robots operational. But first, it’s about being patient and settling in: Welcome to BuGa 2023 Mannheim!

PS: A fun fact on the side: We’re accommodated on the BuGa premises in the hall for “Beneficial Organisms and Pests.” No, we’re not pests; instead, they’re referring to the wall’s artwork. There simply wasn’t space for us in other halls.

RoboCup: ER-Force vs. Immortals

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Now it’s time: Our possibly last game of this tournament. We’re playing against the team Immortals, which has already performed brilliantly against TIGERs Mannheim. We’re tense but also relaxed, knowing that we’ve done everything in our power.

By unanimous team decision, our robots have all been retrofitted to the old radio system. Only if everything is on fire will we switch the low numbers to the new radio. Additionally, we’re going into the game with a heterogeneous fleet of old and new robots.

You can find the link to the live ticker as always on the YouTube platform of Twente or under this link.

First Half

05:00 The game will be kicked off soon. We’re playing in white shells as the blue team, Immortals is playing in black shells as the yellow team.
05:00 The game starts with a 7-minute delay at 15:37.
04:42 Apparently, the kick-off isn’t going well, there are constant ball placements and free kicks for Immortals. However, they’re not making use of these free kicks.
04:19 Dangerous situation in our half. Currently, Immortals seems to be playing more stably; we’re defending more through physical presence than through clearances or passes. Also, our robots are moving quite strangely and are therefore not really able to play the ball.
04:18 Immortals take a timeout. One can only speculate why they need this. One noticeable thing was that they always missed the last meters of their “Cola kisses Orange” ball placement maneuver. At least it doesn’t seem to be a hardware timeout, as the robot handler is not on the field.
03:46 And thus, the inevitable happens: A goal against us by Immortals. One of the Immortals bots shoots from the corner towards the center, where his teammate shoots on goal from an acute angle and scores.
ER-Force 0 : 1 Immortals
03:19 Currently, Immortals is clearly dominating; the ball hardly reaches the opponent’s half. The only reason we’re not conceding more goals is that we’re overwhelming our defense with quantity rather than quality: Many robots in our own penalty area. But how long can we keep this up, and how long can our robots handle it?
03:11 Timeout for Immortals again. Apparently, Immortals is also getting a penalty against us. Given the number of fouls we have, this is not surprising; after all, we have two yellow and even a red card. If we get one more card and thus reduce the allowed number of ER-Force bots to 7, we would actually feel the reduction! A novelty for us, as we usually have so few robots that the reduction never affected us.
03:11 Since Immortals didn’t implement a penalty, they seem to have opted for a corner instead. An arbitrary decision, but whatever.
02:20 The game is primarily being played in our penalty area, but no goals are being scored at the moment.
01:49 By now, we already have 2 red cards and a nearly expired yellow card, which means that with our 7 robots on the field, we’re close to the allowed maximum of 8.
01:45 Timeout for ER-Force, presumably related to the radio system.
00:51 We’ve discovered a drawback of “Cola kisses Orange”: When the ball is right on the goalpost in the goal, the two Immortals bots, one on the left and one on the right of the post, try to squeeze the ball together but don’t realize that a post is in the way, so they keep trying over and over again. Quite entertaining.
-00:31 With that, the first half ends after about 40 minutes. In summary, we’re doing better than in the previous games, but still terribly. We hardly manage to get a shot on goal, as our robots are mostly misoriented and their “snouts” are not facing the ball. At least we had a good number of robots on the field, but the radio problems were constantly noticeable.

Second Half

05:00 The second half is kicked off.
04:42 The game starts off excitingly: Our Erhard takes the initiative and rushes directly into the opponent’s half. He even manages to reach the penalty area, but he can’t score. However, Immortals seizes the opportunity to launch a dangerous counter-attack, which we fortunately manage to defend against.
02:54 OK, that was unexpected: It’s our Erhard again who takes the initiative: Initially, he races forward to engage in a duel with the opponent, but due to wild spins, he doesn’t gain the upper hand at first. But then he finally manages it and kicks towards the goal: But the post! Of all things, the post! We didn’t need that, very unfortunate! But great effort from our Erhard, our number 2, for the team.
02:02 I’m starting to get the feeling that they gave our goalkeeper, number 10, a better radio (quite realistic, as the new radio only works with a single bot). At least the keeper saves balls fantastically, clearing a dangerous situation. But the number 3 also shines. Commonality: They’re all old bots, and everyone else is new.
01:35 Another timeout for ER-Force, probably primarily for radio adjustments again.
01:04 Again, lots of duels in our half, but the situation ends harmlessly.
-00:13 One last struggle and a few final attempts, again from Erhard, but unfortunately, we can’t change anything about it: The ball ends up out of play, and the game ends 1-0 in favor of Immortals. Thus, we’re eliminated from the tournament.
00:00 Although it’s disappointing that we’ve been eliminated from the tournament and that our radio had such problems, we’re at least glad that we could offer a much better resistance than in the previous games and in the second half, we could present some good game situations.

RoboCup: RoboDragons vs. ER-Force

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After finishing in 3rd place in our group during the group phase, we’re now playing the first game of the knockout phase. Unfortunately, SRC couldn’t participate in the tournament due to VISA issues, which has made the schedule somewhat strange, so we’ll have one more game after this one regardless of whether we win or lose.

You can find the link to the live ticker as always on Twente’s YouTube platform or at this link.

First Half

05:00 The game begins. We’re playing in blue with 8 robots, and RoboDragons are in yellow with 8 robots as well.
04:02 Surprisingly smooth gameplay so far. However, some robots, including our 9, are mostly motionless on the field. Soon, they and another robot are taken off the field, leaving us with only 6 robots.
03:02 Intense battle in front of our penalty area. Unfortunately, this battle ends successfully for our opponent, and it’s 1-0 for RoboDragons.
RoboDragons 1 : 0 ER-Force
02:54 And now, there are only 4 robots left.
02:43 The game is primarily taking place in our half, although “taking place” is an exaggerated expression, given the limited playing time.
01:53 Unfortunately, there are fewer new ER-Force robots and more old ones because the robots are having problems with the new radio equipment.
01:39 Attack on our goal, but our goalkeeper managed to catch the ball and chip it away.
01:29 And another goal for RoboDragons, making it 2-0 now. We’re also playing with only 3 to 4 robots.
RoboDragons 2 : 0 ER-Force
00:50 Minor interruptions in the live ticker, as we’re currently busy soldering so much that there’s no time for updates. We’re trying to fix the radio issues with the old robots to replace the new robots with old ones. It’s a shame, but there’s nothing we can do.
00:50 Unusual interruption of the game: lizard on the field. It takes a few seconds to catch the lizard and peacefully remove it from the field.
00:05 And another goal against us. Initially, the goalkeeper defended very well, but then he simply stood still and let the ball roll in.
RoboDragons 3 : 0 ER-Force

Second Half

05:00 And the second half kicks off.
03:30 Another goal is scored, making it 4-0 for RoboDragons. Considering that we’re playing with very few robots, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll recover from this deficit.
RoboDragons 4 : 0 ER-Force
03:30 At some point, another goal must have been scored, so it’s already 5-0…
RoboDragons 5 : 0 ER-Force
00:00 At some point, the sixth goal is scored; the exact timing isn’t clearly visible in the stream. The game ends 6-0 in favor of RoboDragons, and we move to the lower bracket of the tournament.
RoboDragons 6 : 0 ER-Force

Overall, it’s very unfortunate that we’ve had so many radio problems. This meant that we played with a significant numerical disadvantage, making it disproportionately difficult to hold and defend goals.

We’re now trying to switch as many new robots as possible to old radios, although this is somewhat frustrating. We’ll see tomorrow at 2:00 PM in our potentially final game how well we manage and if it makes a difference – after all, our old radio wasn’t very good either.

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.