Iran Open Final Video

Here's the final 2 videos from the Iran Open 2018.
The last group stage game against MRL (the team from Qazvin Islamic Asad University which is hosting the competition) below and the final against HULKs (from Hamburg) above.

First videos from the Iran Open 2018

Now that we're back we've started uploading the videos of our games. Watch games 1 and 2 against Dutch Nao Team and HULKs here:

Finals - Iran Open 2018

Today was the last day of the competition and we played the final against HULKs. It was really captivating. The total game contains a lot heavily fought situations, we were able to score three goals in the first half of the game. The second half was as exciting as the first half and we were able to score two additional goals, so that we won with a final score of 5:0 against HULKs. MRL has reached the 3rd place with a score of 2:1 against Dutch Nao Team.

Day 4 - Iran Open 2018

Today was the last day of the group games, and we had our last game in them. Our game was against MRL and was the third win in a row. We finished the group phase in first place with a goal difference of +17. Tomorrow at 10.30 am local time will be the game for 3rd place between MRL and Dutch Nao Team. We will play the final against HULKs at 1 pm local time (10.30 am German time).

HTWK vs. MRL - Game Report

The game against MRL was our last game of the group games. At the beginning we shot 2 goals after that MRL took a time out to fix some bugs. After the break we continued playing and scored another 2 goals. In the second half they seemed to have fixed their problems and where ready to play. Nevertheless we still managed to score yet another 2 goals - all with our field players this time, in case you're wondering. In the end we won with a total score of 6:0.

Goal Nr. 4

HTWK vs. HULKs - Game Report

The game against the HULKs was really interesting, because we could only play with 4 Robots. However they also had some problems in the first half, so we were not at a disadvantage with the HULKs. In the first half we made 2 goals, where the second was with our goalie Shredder. In the second half we only used 3 Robots against 4 Robots. As you can see they really like group hugs, especially in the first half. In the second half we also scored 2 goals, one of which again with our goalie. So we won with a final score of 4:0. All in all this was a really exciting and fun to watch game.

Group hugs

Day 3 - Iran Open 2018

Today was the opening of the competition and we had our first 2 group games. The first game was against Dutch Nao Team, which we won with a final score of 7:0. The second game was a bit harder, because we had to play against the HULKs. But fortunately we also won this game with a score of 4:0. Tomorrow we will have our last group game against MRL (at 1 pm local time, 10.30 am German time). We are in good spirits to reach the finals on Saturday.

Goal by Shredder (goalie 🙈) against HULKs

Day 2 - Iran Open 2018

Today the playing field is ready to use and WiFi is prohibited, so that the Robots can communicate without any interferences. As you can see, we only have one official WiFi ... and 40 others.

Rules and reality 

Arrival at Iran Open 2018

Yesterday we arrived in Tehran at 6 am. We flew via Istanbul, where the weather was bad. So we had a lot of turbulence while landing and our subsequent flight was delayed.

Airport Leipzig/Halle

The hotel is at the Olympic center, so we only have a 5 minute walk to the venue. Fortunately, this time there is internet, but it's very slow.

Tehran International Exhibition Center

Today we'll test all Robots and perhaps we'll have a test game later in the afternoon.

End of Day 1

Nao-Devils Dortmund took the lead by defeating us 2:1. Despite the close result they were the stronger team this time and deserved the win. Earlier today, we won 2:0 over Berlin United.
Overall we still look good and will meet Bembelbots next tomorrow. If we win this we're up for a rematch against Dortmund in the finals.

HTWK 5:0 NomadZ

We opened the tournament with a 5:0 victory over NomadZ. Just before the match started we experienced some new issues, but were able to fix those fast enough.
Due to a tight schedule the games only last 10 minutes, which is needed to give the robots enough time to rest in between.
We're scheduled to play against Berlin United next at 2pm.

Phoenix Contact Robotics Cup

We are in Cologne/Köln at the Absolventenkongress until Friday for a small tournament featuring a total of 5 teams from Germany and Switzerland.
The first match will be played tomorrow 12 pm between us and NomadZ from Zürich.

It's nice to have a competition again and see many familiar faces. Our main task will be to tune the walking engine for the local field. We'll keep you updated about the progress and results.

Nacht der offenen Tür zur IHK Leipzig

Yesterday we participated at the "Nacht der offenen Tür" by an invitation of the IHK Leipzig. We want to thank them very much for the well done organization and support on the day. We presented our Nao's in videos from the past competitions and in action. The visitors were able to control the robots by its own. The IHK Team made a video (in german) where our team member Hannes presented the RobotSoccer as »The Future«.

Krone E-Mobility Play Days

We are on our way to Austria for the Krone E-Mobility Play Days. There we will meet our good friends - the Bembelbots - and play some showmatches. If you're in the area make sure to visit the event, as it appears to be quite big and interesting. Also we are there, so it will be great!

Watch the World Championship Finals now

This year's Robocup SPL League finals were a close match between the team B-Human and us. We hope you'll find our recording of the game as exciting as the crowd did at the edges of the field.

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.

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.

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!

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.