November 23: Lo-Ellen Park hosts FIRST Robotics Tech Challenge

It’s billed as “the hardest fun you’ll ever have” and it’s coming back to Sudbury this weekend. For the third year, Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School will host the FIRST Tech Challenge qualifier. This year’s event, INTO THE DEEP, will take place on Saturday, November 23, 2024.

The full-day tournament-style competition, presented by Raytheon Technologies, will bring together 15 teams from Sudbury, Ottawa and the Greater Toronto area, including seven teams from Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School and two from Lively District Secondary School.

Students, staff, alumni, volunteers, community partners, and members of FIRST Robotics Canada, including Program Manager Lisa Ramraj, will be in attendance. Spectators are welcome to watch the action in the Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School gymnasium.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competitions engage students in the field of STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – with a focus on innovation and idea sharing. In the process, students hone important life skills such as co-operation, communication, leadership, self-confidence and teamwork.

For INTO THE DEEP, teams have been tasked to design, build, program and operate robots. To earn points, robots must travel across a square playing field to access coloured “samples” located under a submersible in the centre of the field.

Matches have two periods of play – a 30-second autonomous period followed by a two-minute driver-controlled period. The end game will add new scoring opportunities for the robots to either park in the observation zone or race back to climb the rungs on the submersible so they ascend “out of the deep”. Points are allocated based on the location of the robot and the samples.

Judges will interview teams and will present awards in categories such as compass, connect, control, design, innovate, inspire, motivate, and think – each with distinct criteria. Three teams will be selected to advance to the provincial championships in April 2025 in Mississauga.

“The FIRST Robotics Challenge presents a wonderful opportunity for students to apply skills and knowledge acquired in the classroom,” said Rainbow District School Board Director of Education Bruce Bourget. “We are very grateful to the staff organizers, mentors and sponsors, and we offer our best wishes to all teams.”

Dan Monti, Tournament Director and Program Leader of Technology Studies at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School, extended his appreciation to all those who helped make this event possible. “This is the third year we’ve hosted the qualifier in Sudbury, and it’s quite the commitment,” said Dan Monti. “We could not have done it without the support of our valued volunteers, mentors and sponsors.”

Event sponsors include Ionic Mechatronics, Manitoulin Transport, Canadian Tooling & Machining Association, J-J Minerals, CCM Group, Equipment North, HARD-LINE Solutions, Hatch, KRT Waste Management Solutions, Gene Haas Foundation, Duplicators, and the Rainbow District School Board Specialist High Skills Major program.

Agenda – Saturday, November 23, 2024

7 am                          Arrival
7:30 am to 10 am   Formal judging and robot inspections
8 am                          Practice matches
9:45 am                    Driver’s meeting
10 am                       Opening ceremonies
10:15 am                  Qualification matches begin
12 pm to 1 pm         Lunch
1 pm to 3:25 pm     Matches resume
3:30 pm                   Alliance selection begins
4 pm                         Semi-finals
5 pm                         Finals
5:15 pm                    Closing ceremonies
6 pm                         Wrap-up

Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School is located at 275 Loach’s Road in Sudbury.

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Media Contact:

Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor,
Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning,
Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-3171 ext. 7217