RoboCup: TIGERs Mannheim vs. Twente

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: TIGERs Mannheim vs. RoboDragons

The fourth match of the day between TIGERs Mannheim and RoboDragons is about to start. Given that RoboDragons have already demonstrated solid soccer skills, and no one would dare to doubt the abilities of TIGERs Mannheim, we can expect a very entertaining, albeit likely quite one-sided, match.

You can find the live stream of the game as always on the YouTube channel of RoboTeam Twente or directly at this link.

First Half

05:00 The game starts with only a 2-minute delay. TIGERs has 11 robots on the field, while RoboDragons have only 8.
04:48 Not even fully into the game yet, TIGERs Mannheim scores the first goal against their opponents, as expected.
TIGERs Mannheim 1 : 0 RoboDragons
04:29 The game already gives the impression that TIGERs is more playing with their opponents rather than seriously fighting.
03:31 After a very long and beautiful passing game where the RoboDragons’ robots don’t get a chance, TIGERs Mannheim scores the second goal.
TIGERs Mannheim 2 : 0 RoboDragons
02:51 And again, the chants of a Mannheim goal scorer echo through the hall: TIGERs goes for 3:0.
TIGERs Mannheim 3 : 0 RoboDragons
02:08 Counterattack by TIGERs Mannheim after a failed RoboDragons attack, but the Dragons’ keeper makes the save!
01:50 Indeed, Mannheim also has to temporarily take a robot off the field, although this only lasts for 20 seconds.
01:28 Another failed attack by TIGERs Mannheim. Are the RoboDragons slowly getting into the game? We don’t think so.
01:21 And here’s the proof that it’s probably more luck than strategy: TIGERs increases the score to 4:0
TIGERs Mannheim 4 : 0 RoboDragons
01:21 Quick timeout by RoboDragons. However, the problem seems to be quickly fixed.
00:29 Attack by TIGERs, but the RoboDragons’ bots defend valiantly, sending the ball out of bounds.
00:19 Especially in ball placements, you can see the clear differences between the robots of the two teams: While TIGERs’ robots dance around the ball as if they were born with it, the other robots visibly struggle to control the ball.
-00:17 With a final beautiful attack by TIGERs Mannheim, naturally concluded with a goal, the robots head into halftime. Overall, an extremely fluid game (as evidenced by the total game time of only 16 minutes), very enjoyable to watch, albeit as expected, quite one-sided.
TIGERs Mannheim 5 : 0 RoboDragons

Second Half

05:00 The second half kicks off.
04:48 And another goal is already scored. Seems like TIGERs have more than enough energy to continue playing as they did in the first half.
TIGERs Mannheim 6 : 0 RoboDragons
04:35 Shot on goal by RoboDragons, but the goalkeeper saves it, or does he? TIGERs comes back with a second attack that the opponent can’t handle anymore. So a goal is finally scored, and it’s 7:0 for TIGERs.
TIGERs Mannheim 7 : 0 RoboDragons
03:05 Another goal for TIGERs Mannheim.
TIGERs Mannheim 8 : 0 RoboDragons
02:57 And again… However, the TIGERs robots, seemingly not too challenged, are now attacking the referee out of boredom.
TIGERs Mannheim 9 : 0 RoboDragons
02:19 The RoboDragons’ robots are slowly becoming desperate: Some crash into the wall, others just wander aimlessly. But one of the robots did manage to win a duel against TIGERs. A milestone.
01:57 And with that, the final goal of this match is scored. TIGERs Mannheim wins decisively, 10:0 against RoboDragons.
TIGERs Mannheim 10 : 0 RoboDragons
00:00 With a more than deserved victory, TIGERs Mannheim bids farewell to the evening with their typical victory dances.

RoboCup Crailsheim: ER-Force vs. TIGERs Mannheim

It came as it had to: ER-Force is in the final against TIGERs Mannheim!

Both teams are tense: As expected, TIGERs Mannheim was able to deliver a more robust performance over the course of the tournament, but ER-Force did better than its competitor against some opponents. An exciting game awaits! The fans obviously knew this too, so that shortly before the start of the game the ranks fill up again: More than 100 spectators can hardly wait when it’s time to say: Let’s play soccer!

Just a few seconds after the kick-off, the spectators can experience the performance of a top-class game: the ball is almost permanently in midfield, the players give their opponents little chance for an attack. If they do, the counterattacks are dangerous, but the teams are usually able to defuse the situation.

So the first half is very exciting and without major interruptions. Finally, TIGERs Mannheim manage to grab the ball and outwit our goalkeeper with a counterattack, which means that the first half is clearly 1-0. Overall, the game appears very balanced; many passing games occur in both halves of the game.

After the second half has started and the automatic ball placement has been deactivated, the game continues as smoothly as in the first half. However, TIGERs Mannheim manages to extend their lead with a second goal during the second half. Nevertheless, the ER-Force team represent a strong adversary. The game finally ends with a wonderful and well-deserved third goal by TIGERs Mannheim.

TIGERs Mannheim is the deserved winner of this tournament and receives its well-deserved trophy at a ceremony! This ends a wonderful tournament in which the teams were able to improve their game. Finally, there is only one thing left to say: See you all in Bordeaux!

RoboCup Crailsheim: ER-Force vs. TIGERs Mannheim

Our second game of the day was against our toughest competition, the reigning world champion from Mannheim: TIGERs Mannheim.

After the game started with some delay, we unfortunately had to deal with some radio problems at first. But since we are already tested in this area, we were able to test our radio frequencies in our timeout and choose the best frequency accordingly.

Despite everything, the game wasn’t as comfortable and fluid to watch at the beginning as we are used to from our games with TIGERs Mannheim. Instead, we had to deal with teleporting robots in our software, i.e. the positions of the robots within our software changed suddenly and unpredictably by many centimeters. Apparently, the robots appeared with a few seconds delay at places where they had previously driven. The reason for this is initially unknown.

Towards the end of the game, however, we were able to find out the reason for this: the data from the cameras was transmitted both over the LAN and over the W-LAN. However, the data from the W-LAN arrives much later than the data via the LAN. Accordingly, we received both “past” and present data, which we interpreted as “current” data at all times. Accordingly, our software could not handle this problem and the robots drove as if they were slightly drunk.

After the W-LAN was switched off, we were able to drive to the balls properly as usual and play our usual nice game. Unfortunately, nine minutes of regular time had already elapsed by this point, leaving us with less than a minute.

Overall, we had to admit defeat to TIGERs Mannheim with a 0:2.

RoboCup Crailsheim

The time has come on the first weekend in April: The RoboCup Crailsheim will take place in the Karlsberghalle in Crailsheim! We are looking forward to presenting our self-made robots to you and to playing exciting games against our friends TIGERs Mannheim, LUHbots (Hanover), RoboTeam Twente (Netherlands) and NAMeC (Bordeaux, France).

The tournament is a great opportunity to learn more about robotics and artificial intelligence at European universities and to see robots from some of the world’s best teams at play.

Come and experience exciting games and a unique atmosphere!

See you on April 1st and 2nd in Crailsheim!