On Saturday June the 10th we were qualified to play the semi-finals, the result would determine if we would reach the finals. The day was intense, we played high level matches and gave our opponent and the crowd a match they won’t forget that easily.
Yesterday, we worked all night in order to showcase our robot to its best potential and finalize the European championship with satisfaction. Today we woke up a little later than usual, however it was still early in the morning. We wanted to be rested and ready for the last day of the competition, that’s why we also decided to test and practice calibrating while we were still at home. When we arrived at the venue only small adjustments had to be made, which resulted in us having some extra time just before the upcoming match.
The Semi-Finals: Varazdin
This time we were fully prepared and confident that we were able to compete on the highest level in the semi-finals against Varazdin. During the match our robots worked remarkably well, our defender and attacker were both working as if they were almost in sync with one another while there was no direct communication between the two robots! But, in the second half our opponents were still able to score some points against us, which resulted in a tense second half match. However, in the end we still won with a score of 8-5 which meant we were qualified for the grand final!
Problems
Moments after the match we started checking the robot and realized that another neopixel (emits light to the surface underneath the robot) of ours got loose during the previous match, which resulted in the pads on the PCB to get ripped off along with it. Because we had little time left before the finals, we needed to quickly bypass the connection with the rest of the neopixels. In order to have enough time left to test the robot and perhaps fix other problems. We were fortunate enough to have a working robot, just before the final match with enough time remaining.
The Finals: Italy
This last match was the most important one we had to face. Not only because these were the finals, but also because we were up against the former champions of the world. However, this time we had two fully working robots, which meant we had the chance of winning. At the start of the match we were able to secure the first point, however our opponents scored immediately after. Throughout the first half of the match, we were evenly matched. As a result, the second half started off with a score of 5-6 in favor of Italy. During the second half, our robot continued to perform well and we were yet again evenly matched. Around the end of the match, our opponents experienced some difficulties. This resulted in us being able to score a few points, just before the match ended. We managed to score a few points before the end of the match, unfortunately we still lost by 1 point. The final score was 8-9, which made us second place in the European championship of robot soccer. Even though we lost, we were still glad we were able to showcase our robots performing to the best of their capabilities.
Intermission
After the finals there was a small intermission just before the award ceremony took place. During that time people asked each other to write their name and country on their shirts or country flags. Later on, we were also asked to do the same. Because we brought our Roboticus stickers with us we also had the chance to distribute them to fellow robotics enthusiasts. After, music started to play and almost everyone present began to do the polonaise. The Intermission came to an end with people dancing in a big circle.
Award Ceremony
When they announced that the award ceremony would take place, everyone took their seats. Because there were many categories, we had to wait a while before it was our turn. When we were called up to the stage, we were excited and glad to receive our award and end the competition this way.
Post Competition
After we left the competition, we went to the same Croatian restaurant for the last time. After having dinner and a dessert, we left the restaurant and saw people dressed in traditional Croatian clothes playing music, while walking down the street. We then drove back home to get all our luggage and get ready to leave.
