Tech United wins RoboCup with combination play
TU/e robot soccer team Tech United has won the RoboCup, the robot soccer World Cup in Brazil. In the final, the team beat Water from the University of Beijing 3 to 2. Their combination play and excellent goalie landed the Dutch team the title. In the RoboCup @Home-league for service robots, Eindhoven robot AMIGO took second place.
The team from TU/e had already competed against the Chinese before in this tournament. They lost that match 3 to 4. Because the Chinese team was pretty rough in that game, referees decided to grant more free kicks for pushing in the final. For the Eindhoven robot players, that meant more room for combination play.
Still, Water managed to create quite a few scoring opportunities, but the quick Eindhoven goalie stopped most attempts. At half-time, the score was 2-0. The second half was a nailbiter with goals from both the Dutch and Chinese team, but the score remained 3-2 until the final whistle.
The Eindhoven team had already played the Beijing team twice in the RoboCup final, but lost both the 2011 and 2013 matches. The Chinese robots are known for their speed and strength, and their rough play. The Eindhoven team on the other hand is focused on technical combination play.
The Eindhoven University of Technology has made it to the finals for seven years straight, but this was only the second time the team actually won the Cup. They did so too in 2012. The TU/e robots compete in the Middle Size League, the RoboCup premier league. Conpletely independently, without any human control, they played two fifteen-minute games. Each team consists of four field players on wheels and one goalie with special arms to stop the ball.
For an impression see the photo's at www.flickr.com/photos/techunited/
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