Lo-Ellen Park participates in FIRST Robotics Competition

Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School’s Robotics Team will compete in the Toronto Central FIRST Robotics Competition at Ryerson University from March 3rd to 5th, 2016. Secondary 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 perform in high intensity robo-sports.

The mission of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is to inspire young people to be leaders in science and technology, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills and inspire innovation. FIRST also fosters well-rounded life skills including self-confidence, communication and leadership.

This year’s robo-sport, “Stronghold”, is a medieval-themed game. It is a contest between two teams of robots that are given the challenge of taking down the enemy’s castle. On their grand quest, the robots have to traverse a battlefield littered with obstacles, along with potential weapons.

Lo-Ellen Park’s robot, Sköll, is the result of a six-week intensive build period. “I’m extremely proud of the success of the build team and our capability as a team to come together to make such a powerful robot,” said Megan Gran, team captain.

In the first few weeks of the build season, the team analyzed the rules around the game and developed prototypes. Numerous iterations of each mechanism were tested before the team settled on a final design completed with CAD software. The design came to life through a week and a half of furious building against the clock.

The six-week time constraint made it difficult to get the robot working by the deadline. However, a dedicated effort from Lo-Ellen Park’s mentors and members of all ages and a couple of late nights ensured this year’s machine looks and performs better than ever.

The robot has a multi-use arm to traverse different defenses, whether climbing, crawling over, or lifting them up. As well, Sköll is able to carry balls across a field to drop them into a goal or shoot them up high for more points.

Lo-Ellen Robotics with robo-companion Sköll is vying to qualify for the World competitions in St. Louis, Missouri in April. Lo-Ellen Parks Robotics has qualified for this competition three times in the past.

“We would like to thank all of our sponsors and mentors for their generous support,” said Jared Kelly, Business Team Lead for Lo-Ellen Robotics. “We really couldn’t have come this far without all of them.”
 
Sponsors include Technica Mining, Hard-Line Solutions, NORSE, ASA Alloys, Ionic, Laurentian University – Goodman School of Mines, Pioneer Construction, Fisherwavy, HATCH, SNOLab, Argosy Foundation, Soucie Salo Safety, Lafarge, Interstate All Battery Center, Bluemoon Graphics, Topper’s Pizza, Hot 93.5 FM, Duplicators Printing & Copy Centre, Paul K. Kyle Orthodontist, Guillievin International, Dan Courville Chevrolet Buick GMC, Tim Hortons, Golder Associates, Chimo Motel, Dairy Queen, East Side Mario’s, Testmark Laboratories, Nedco, Quiznos Sub and Lowes.

The public can follow the team’s progress throughout the competitions on social media, via Twitter @LoEllenRobotics and Facebook /loellenrobotics. To view the live stream of the competition, visit watchfirstnow.com.

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Media Contacts:

Jared Kelly
Business Team Lead
Lo-Ellen Park Robotics
705-522-2320
[email protected]

Daniel Monti
Lead Mentor
Lo-Ellen Park Robotics
705-522-2320
[email protected]