Day 3 – Match 2 2010-06-24
This was our first match against another Lego NXT team, Team Victory, the only US team in RoboCup Junior Soccer. They had 2 rectangular robots with very effective dribblers. We had experimented with dribblers earlier in the season but had not managed to get them working successfully alongside the kicker and chassis design that we had settled on. We also were running into problems with the weight limit for Soccer A Lightweight. They used fewer motors than us, and only 1 NXT brick, which saved a fair bit of weight for them .
Their team was a much better match to ours than many others we had played against, and this was a closely fought match. They went into the lead initially, scoring 2 goals early on, before the match was paused to replace the batteries in the ball. After the replacement, we were still having our usual problems seeing the ball. This was not such a problem for them, as they were using the v1.0 IR-seeker sensors which are better at detecting DC-mode IR than the v2.0 ones we have (better at detecting pulsed mode IR). The TechnoBotts robots put up a vigorous and successful defence but foolishly left one side of the goal unguarded giving Team Victory a chance to score, but they failed to take this.
Team Victory then unexpectedly took the ball up towards their goal, then brought it down the pitch towards us. We aimed at the yellow goal – and missed. Unable to see the ball, both TechnoBotts robots scuttled backward. We found a bit had broken off one of the Team Victory robots – probably because one of ours had kicked it over-enthusiastically – and noticed that it appeared to be limping rather after that.
Team Victory again took the ball towards their goal and then thundered down towards our goal and were in real danger of scoring but the half-time whistle blew with the score remainig at 2-0 to Team Victory.
In the second half, the TechnoBotts forward robot surged forward and scored an early goal with a long accurate kick from behind the centre line. Team Victory attempted to retaliate but were unable to push the ball sufficiently into the goal for it to count. The ball was placed on a neutral spot and Team Victory aimed at our goal. We put up a splendid defence, and then Team Victory got stuck in a corner with the ball. Lack of progress was called and the ball was moved again to a neutral spot. We were first to reach the ball this time and tried a long kick towards their goal, which they defended well. Team Victory tried again for a goal, but couldn’t get past our defence. We tried again with a long kick towards their goal; they intercepted it and dribbled back down towards our goal. After a protracted scuffle at our goal end, Team Victory finally put one in, bringing the score to 3-1 in their favour. and then we scored again, bringing the score to 3-2 – we were now only a goal behind.
Team Victory kicked off after our goal, and quickly scored again, then unexpectedly scored an own goal, bringing the score to 4-3 in their favour. We were one goal down with one minute to go, in an incredibly close and exciting match. Would we be able to equalise, or better yet, beat them in the short time remaining? Sadly not, but it was a great match against well-matched opponents, and very enjoyable.