[patrickrd]

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the late update, I have been unable to get internet access until now. But even if I had, I wouldn't have had time to update. Anyway, here's the latest. I hope to be able to update every evening.

So on the 27th at about 8AM we arrived in Lisbon. Got to the venue quickly and with no major problems or delays. The first day of setup went by very quickly. We got everything unpacked, and attempted to run the system. Our first major problem encountered was vision. The field conditions here are very suboptimal. The lights are yellow (and do not span the whole color spectrum) and our vision system needed major work. Meanwhile, we assembled updated robot parts, and assembled our spare robots. Electrically and mechanically, we also had frequent failures.

On the 28th (yesterday) we attempted to get our whole system up and running. No such luck. Mechanical and electrical failures kept CS from getting a full team of robots. Further, vision problems and wireless problems persisted. AI and strategy also needed a lot of work.

Today, we played our first two games in our round robin of 6 teams. Our first game, we failed to get our robots running properly. But so did our opponents, Plasma-Z from Thailand. After a lot of uncontrolled chaos, the game ended at 0-0. We were VERY fortunate not to lose the game in the last seconds. Plasma-Z had the ball and was slowly moving towards our goal along a clear path. About 1 or 2 feet before reaching the goal, time expired and the game ended in a tie. Final score, 0-0 tie.

Our second game was not much better. It was against Lucky Star from Singapore, probably the best team in our round robin group. Wireless problems kept two robots from working, and the other two worked only intermittantly. At times our defense worked well, but for the most part we had little control of the robots. Final score, 10-0 Lucky Star.

So our current situation is not good. However, we believe we can win the remaining three games in our round robin round (two tomorrow, one Thursday). This would likely either clinch the second spot to advance, or tie for the second. If it is a tie, the team that has had the most goals will advance. Thus, we hope to win the three remaining games by wide margins. All our problems are solvable, but it is not clear whether we have the time to do so. If we can win the remaining three, we will be in good shape, having had two extra days to get our system up.

We're in the process of greatly simplifying our system. We are removing problematic components that are not necessary, and making an effort to field strong robots that are simpler and robust. We do not need all our accessories that we have worked on all year in the next few games.

Well that's about all I've got to say. I'm optimistic that we can come back and be competitive.