Team 449

Battle o' Baltimore 2009 incorporated several rule changes from the original Lunacy game. Among them were that there would only be two trailers per alliance (complicating strategy), and that the second round of drafting is done randomly (driving home the point that teamwork is far more important than the performance of any individual robot).

That last point was further driven home by our 'selection' as members of the #1 seeded alliance, after a disappointing 5 matches in which we were 1-4-0, and seeded 22 out of 24.

Our performance was much better from then on (teamwork over any individual robot, once again), and we performed respectably in the semifinals, although we did not make it to the finals.

This event was a chance for the rising juniors and sophmores - those who will be taking charge of robotics team operations in the next year or two - to have a truly hands-on experience with the robot. Many of the old hands did not show up, and those who did often took on something of a "devil may care" attitude. As Eric put it in his blog post: "The drive chain is loose? Not my problem. Here, have a wrench. It might not be the right size. Engineers have got to fend for themselves in the wild world of robotics."