Lo-Ellen Robotics Sets Record, Wins Gold, Invited to World Championships

Team 4069 – Lo-Ellen Robotics
(From left to right: Greg Dalton, Greg Lee, Rachel Wood, Brian Lauzon, Hinkel
Yeung, John Hick, Edmund Noble, Joey Linden, Aiden Spoel, Greg Lakanen, Cody
Hartwick, Colin Roos, Mark Hartwick, Brent Perry, Alex Bertrand, Matteo
Neville, Kirk Lee, Alain Richard, Kelly Levesque, Karthik Kanagasabapathy)

Team 4069 Robot, Hyperion, in Elimination Rounds alliance
with Team 1114, Simbotics and Team 2056, OP Robotics.

Northern Life Article – April 9, 2013

A local group of high school students, Lo-Ellen
Robotics – Team 4069, and their mentors tasted success this past weekend
winning the gold medal at the 2013 FIRST
Robotics Competition Waterloo Regional. Although,
the team was off to a rocky start, students were able to quickly make
adjustments to their robot and attract the attention of two of the top-ranked
teams. With the help of teams, 2056, OP Robotics of Stoney Creek and 1114,
Simbotics of St. Catherine’s, they were able to set a points record and capture
the coveted gold metal.This success secured
their place at the world championships in St. Louis this April. The team was
also honored with the prestigious FIRST “Gracious Professionalism Award” in
recognition of their “No Student Left Behind” funding assistance program.

At FIRST
Robotics Competitions (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and
Technology), high school students from across Canada and the US team up with
mentors from the world’s best technology companies to design, build and program
robots that compete in high intensity robo-sports. FIRST also encourages teams to work cooperatively with other teams
so that everyone can succeed. Assistance to build the Lo-Ellen team robot has
been provided by local organizations including HATCH, Laurentian University,
Stainless Steel Technologies and Nickel City Steel. The team’s major sponsors
include Hatch, Xstrata Nickel, SNC Lavalin and FIRST.

The task for the 2013 season was to build a
robot that could shoot Frisbees at a target and climb a 12-foot tall metal
pyramid.Team 4069’s robot, Hyperion,
was built to drive 18km per hour and shoot Frisbees at a speed of 130km per
hour. This high-firing velocity allowed Hyperion to introduce the near game-breaking
skill of accurate full court, long range shooting.

Lo-Ellen Robotics was started just last year by
two passionate high school students and a teacher. The team quickly gained the
support of industry and went on to win the Rookie All Star Award and Rookie
Inspiration Award as well as the Highest Rookie Seed Awards at both regional
competitions in Southern Ontario. At the 2012 World Championships, they had a
strong showing, placing 20th out of 100 teams in their division. They have also
encouraged other students to get involved and are currently mentoring a new
rookie team from St. Benedict’s Secondary School in Sudbury.The two teams will travel together next
weekend to compete in the Greater Toronto West Regional Competition.Watch them online at www.watchfirstnow.ca starting Thursday, March 28, 2013.

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Media contact:
Colin Roos
Team captain, Lo-Ellen Robotics
(705) 929-9601