Technical challenges

Throughout the tournament, whIRLwind faced technical challenges, including unreliable Wi-Fi and robots requiring repairs. Two of the team’s own robots were still being repaired during the third-place match and the semi-finals. Although Booster provided replacement robot, the team couldn't get themto work reliably in time for the final two matches. Once these robots were taken out of the line-up, the team’s performance improved.

Strong results in the knock-out stage

whIRLwind began the main knock-out competition with convincing wins over SC Rob and Haoye, winning 11–1 and 11–0 respectively. The team then lost 1–11 to HTWK in the semi-final. According to the team, HTWK deployed an ‘anti-Dutch’ strategy, repeatedly kicking the ball high into the air. whIRLwind’s goalkeeper was not yet designed to deal effectively with this type of play. The team recovered to win the third-place match against HyperYe 3–1 and take home the bronze medal.

Two parallel competitions

The event included two parallel robot football competitions: a main competition involving Chinese and international teams, and a separate competition for international teams. In both competitions the top 3 was made up of the same teams: B-Humand and HTWK, boh from Germany in first and second place, and whIRLwind in third place. 

World Humanoid Robot Games

The second World Humanoid Robot Games took place in Beijing from 22 to 26 August. The event brought together teams from around the world to compete in events for humanoid robots, including robot football.