Sunday 30 July 2017
After the finals
Look how good the chemistry is between the teams. We are sad for them because they only won closely and they are happy for us because we almost were victorious.
Finals - HTWK 1:2 B-Human
We lost the finals 1:2 in an insanely intense match. B-Human started without hesitation and scored a goal after just 36 seconds. Our goalie saw it coming, but the shot distance was too short and so he used his motion too late.
We were shocked and thought the game would take the usual course. Instead we managed to bring the ball into a good position a few times, but unfortunately fell short.
The 2nd half looked promising, as we took the ball close to their goal with 2 robots. It took a bad turn however, when the striker was penalized for pushing, while the 2nd attacker started to walk back a bit. Without the penalty he would likely have scored. B-Human took the ball and increased their lead with a flawless attack.
We still weren't out and mounted another attack, this time successfully. With 70 seconds on the clock, we almost equalized the score. It came down to a showdown between our striker and their goalkeeper. Their keeper succeeded and prevented a penalty-shootout from happening.
We are still happy with the result, as we played a lot better than expected against a team that had an otherwise flawless tournament without a single goal scored against them.
We were shocked and thought the game would take the usual course. Instead we managed to bring the ball into a good position a few times, but unfortunately fell short.
The 2nd half looked promising, as we took the ball close to their goal with 2 robots. It took a bad turn however, when the striker was penalized for pushing, while the 2nd attacker started to walk back a bit. Without the penalty he would likely have scored. B-Human took the ball and increased their lead with a flawless attack.
We still weren't out and mounted another attack, this time successfully. With 70 seconds on the clock, we almost equalized the score. It came down to a showdown between our striker and their goalkeeper. Their keeper succeeded and prevented a penalty-shootout from happening.
We are still happy with the result, as we played a lot better than expected against a team that had an otherwise flawless tournament without a single goal scored against them.
Semi Finals - HTWK 8:1 UT Austin Villa
We made it to the finals!!!!
After narrowly missing out for 2 years in a row we are back to challenge B-Human for 1st place. Almost everything went perfectly, we had possession of the ball most of the time and Austins defense wasn't prepared to deal with our dribbling.
What also helped was that their whistle detection gave false signals 3 times during the 1st half, which gave us a huge advantage after kickoff. They fixed this in the break, but for us everything still went according to plan and we increased our lead. For 30 seconds we even saw the return of our attacking goalie who regained his free will and tried to score on his own.
After narrowly missing out for 2 years in a row we are back to challenge B-Human for 1st place. Almost everything went perfectly, we had possession of the ball most of the time and Austins defense wasn't prepared to deal with our dribbling.
What also helped was that their whistle detection gave false signals 3 times during the 1st half, which gave us a huge advantage after kickoff. They fixed this in the break, but for us everything still went according to plan and we increased our lead. For 30 seconds we even saw the return of our attacking goalie who regained his free will and tried to score on his own.
Saturday 29 July 2017
Quarter Finals - HTWK 2:0 TJark
We couldn't be more happy as we made it to the semi finals for the 6th time in a row with an exciting 2:0 victory over TJark. The game went back and forth with 2 very different approaches to the game. They didn't dribble at all and instead used short distance kicks until they were close enough to go for a final shot.
In the 1st half we were on offense most of the time and took the lead after about 6 minutes in. After the break the game got really intense. Our robots were falling nonstop for a while. What saved us was always having 2-3 players near the ball. At one point TJark were close enough to score a goal and our goalie wasn't looking at the ball for a moment, which is quite rare. Lucky for us, the attacker kicked the rug. Soon after we took possession of the ball and managed to score again.
With 3 minutes left on the clock TJark mounted another attack and forced our goalkeeper into action. This time however, he was prepared, had vision on the ball all the time and jumped at the perfect time. Our robots stalled the game afterwards to let us advance to the semis.
Many thanks to the Bembelbots for lending us a body. Fused with our Mr. Burns to Mr. Bembel-Burns he was an essential part of the offence. We wish them good luck in their quarter-finals.
Tomorrow we'll get our rematch from last year's semi-finals. We expect another close game, so wish us luck!
In the 1st half we were on offense most of the time and took the lead after about 6 minutes in. After the break the game got really intense. Our robots were falling nonstop for a while. What saved us was always having 2-3 players near the ball. At one point TJark were close enough to score a goal and our goalie wasn't looking at the ball for a moment, which is quite rare. Lucky for us, the attacker kicked the rug. Soon after we took possession of the ball and managed to score again.
With 3 minutes left on the clock TJark mounted another attack and forced our goalkeeper into action. This time however, he was prepared, had vision on the ball all the time and jumped at the perfect time. Our robots stalled the game afterwards to let us advance to the semis.
Many thanks to the Bembelbots for lending us a body. Fused with our Mr. Burns to Mr. Bembel-Burns he was an essential part of the offence. We wish them good luck in their quarter-finals.
HTWK 6:0 RoboCanes
We defeated RoboCanes from Miami 6:0. This was our best match of the tournament so far due to some much needed improvements. The strategy was again to score goals by dribbling. In previous games we ran into our opponents too often, which isn't the case anymore. We are very happy with this result are confident for our quarter finals match in 3 hours, where we will face either TJark or WrightOcean.
Robot Funeral
We have to announce sad news: Megamind is dead. Moments ago he was buried in his favorite jersey surrounded by his teammates.
Nevertheless, the show must go on and our remaining robots dealt with their grief by playing another match of soccer
Friday 28 July 2017
Heading home
We are done for today. It was an awesome day and we had a lot fun. We hope you had fun too and we will be back tomorrow.
Competition Day 2
We are done for the day and sit together in a hotel room with some delicous Sake (rice wine). We had one match which we won 4:1 against MRL despite some hardware issues.
For tomorrow we plan to prepare some strategies which prevents our opponents from ever seeing the ball. Stay tuned and wish us luck!
For tomorrow we plan to prepare some strategies which prevents our opponents from ever seeing the ball. Stay tuned and wish us luck!
Live streaming and official videos
There is live streaming and a collection of official videos.
You can find the streaming schedule here. The live streaming will be via Youtube and the collection of all videos will be available here. We will also upload new videos soon. So have fun watching robots play soccer :-D
You can find the streaming schedule here. The live streaming will be via Youtube and the collection of all videos will be available here. We will also upload new videos soon. So have fun watching robots play soccer :-D
Thursday 27 July 2017
End of the first competition day
The first competition day is over and we really felt the intensity of the games. The first day always includes teething problems you never could have imagined. We had the chance to see all the new stuff in action and smoothed out the rough edges.
Taskforce Mode
We saw some strange behavior when playing the last two matches. Robots are switching off at random and we couldn't explain why. So we collected all the robots that were ready to play and created a robot task force. After a few hours we found the error and moved on to the next :-)
HTWK 3:1 HULKs
We managed to beat the HULKs from Hamburg 3:1 and take 1st place in the groupstage. The HULKs put up a good fight with strong defensive behavior and a flawless attack which resulted in their goal. Our goalkeeper saw their shot coming, but couldn't reach the ball in time.
There will be another round robin which starts tomorrow. Our only match of the day will be at 14:30 local time (07:30 CEST).
We are quite happy with the results and look forward to improve a lot of stuff in the remaining time.
There will be another round robin which starts tomorrow. Our only match of the day will be at 14:30 local time (07:30 CEST).
We are quite happy with the results and look forward to improve a lot of stuff in the remaining time.
HTWK 4:0 Berlin United
We won our opening match against Berlin United with 4:0. Despite having some new issues causing robots to crash on occasion we were on the offense most of the time.
Our next match is against HULKs at 12:30 local time (05:30 CEST) and if we win we finish 1st in the group.
Our next match is against HULKs at 12:30 local time (05:30 CEST) and if we win we finish 1st in the group.
Wednesday 26 July 2017
Side stories: Lunch opportunities in Japan
Japan offers great lunch opportunities. We tasted lunch boxes yesterday and visited a soup restaurant as well. The taste was amazing. You have to try that if you ever get the chance to do so :-)
Timeschedule for the Competition
The time schedule for the competition is available. You can find it online.
We will meet the Berlin United and the HULKs in our first round robin phase.
We will meet the Berlin United and the HULKs in our first round robin phase.
Second Setup Day
We started our day with a good breakfast and were with the organization here in Nagoya. Official showing participants the way to the trains and venue. Also we got prepared for the Japan way of public transportation. They marked lines on the ground to show us where to stand. Here are a few images.
We will participate today in the penalty shootout competition which is mandatory. Jörg prepared us well and we are a bit nervous like every year before the first real match.
We will participate today in the penalty shootout competition which is mandatory. Jörg prepared us well and we are a bit nervous like every year before the first real match.
End of Day one
The first setup day is over and we are heading home. We had a great start so far and a warm welcome. We are already excited for tomorrow :-D
Tuesday 25 July 2017
First Setup Day
We arrived at the venue a few hours ago. The robocup is quite easy to find in Nagoya. You just have to travel the Aonami Line from one end to the other. You can see the route here. The train takes approximately 25min and with our batches we got tickets for free.
What is especially great this year: So many volunteers. They waited for us at the airport, at the main station and here at the venue. Thanks in advance for all the great help! You also can't miss them (maybe the color if the t-shirts are a reason ;-)).
The venue is still under construction but the awesome ads for the Robocup are already in place and ticket preorders are sold out.
Most of the teams are already here and it's great to see everyone again :-D
What is especially great this year: So many volunteers. They waited for us at the airport, at the main station and here at the venue. Thanks in advance for all the great help! You also can't miss them (maybe the color if the t-shirts are a reason ;-)).
The venue is still under construction but the awesome ads for the Robocup are already in place and ticket preorders are sold out.
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