In this day and age, the Killer Bees are known for their many blue banners. We pride ourselves on our successes of the past and present, but it wasn’t always that way…
Once upon a time, in a workshop not-so far away, the Killer Bees were buzzing around to create the best possible robot for the 1996 FRC game “Hexagon Havoc.” One day, a brilliant idea was born. A “bungee puncher” was created to pop out of the robot to smack the game ball into a goal in a simple and quick manner. Even Dean Kamen loved the idea. The worker bees rejoiced in their invention as they headed off to nationals, the only tournament available at the time.
Minutes before their first ever match, the Bees were buzzing with excitement. This was the first time the team would ever see their robot compete for real. More importantly, it was the first time their puncher would be put to good use. Excitement was mounting as the original Buzz robot was prepping for battle.
The second the match started, Buzz I sped to the goal, ready to bungee punch their way to victory. But there are some dreams that cannot be. Another team had knocked the ball slightly off-center, and Buzz completely missed! The puncher slammed into the wooden goal, wedging itself inside of the goal. The robot was hopelessly wedged into the goal and there was no way to retract the bungee puncher.
Just then, the Bees found an idea and ran with it- literally. They flew away, still attached to the goal. They hoped if they couldn’t score, then neither could their opponents. The other teams were shocked! That goal wasn’t supposed to move, but Buzz was speeding through the field with it in tow. The other teams took off after Buzz, trying to score despite the runaway goal.
However, the lucky getaway could not last forever. After about a minute of playing keep-away, an opposing team trapped the Bees in a corner and scored. Although the Killer Bees had caused actual havoc during Hexagon Havoc and lost their first-ever match, let’s just say when Lunacy was introduced in 2009, they weren’t exactly inexperienced.