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w w w .i n si d eH A LT O N .c o m O A K V IL LE B EA V ER Th ur sd ay , O ct ob er 6 , 2 01 1 8 By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Theyve shown how robots may one day revolutionize medicine, now Oakvilles world champion FIRST LEGO League team, the Sentinels, is calling on others to go even further. The Sentinels, whose members are Oakville, Burlington and Mississauga students Amanda Rampertab, Thomas Lim, Mike Catricala, Anthony Meola, Kathleen (last name withheld at parents request), Jack Enders and Chris Lyons, spoke at Captain Robert Wilson Public School, recently, encouraging the more than 100 elementary school students pres- ent to follow them into the fun- filled field of competitive robotics. The Sentinels recently fought their way through provincial and national championships to become Number One in Canada, but refused to stop there, battling teams from 55 counties to finally emerge as the 2010 FIRST LEGO League World Champions. Enders spoke about just how amazing the competitive experi- ence was for the team. This year, we finally got to go to the world championships and there we competed against the top teams from all over the world. There were teams there from everywhere you could imagine. Teams from Japan, Brazil and China, said Enders. My favourite experience this year would have to be when we got to talk to the Japanese team after beating them and they asked us how we did it and we literally had an hour-long conversation with them about how our robot worked and the strategy we used. It was just really cool to see how different kids from all over the world are interested in exactly the same things that kids are interested in here in Canada. The competition required each team to build a LEGO robot, using the robotics controllers provided by LEGO. They also had to pro- gram the robot to carry out a series of tasks with the 2010 task theme dealing with health- care. The robots were programmed to carry out tasks such as applying a rudimentary brace to an object simulating a fractured bone and dispensing medication. Every movement must be pre- programmed into the robot, oth- erwise it will not carry out its task properly. The Sentinels were coached by John Catricala and other mentors. The Sentinels are part of a great robotics team know as the E-Bots, which Catricala, and other mem- bers of his family, mentor at his Oakville business, Fastcats. Rampertab spoke about the competitions presentation por- tion, which required participants to engage in a special research project. The Sentinels project revolved around the development of a more efficient way for people with diabe- tes to monitor their blood sugar and take their medication. This project involved consulta- tion with a cardiologist, the CEO of the Canadian Diabetes Association and others. Working on a research project Changing world with LEGO ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER FIRST FOOD: The launch of FIRST LEGO League (FFL) 2011 FOOD FACTOR Challenge was held at Captain R. Wilson Public School in Oakville. Last year's FLL world champion Sentinels, (L-R) back Chris Lyons, Anthony Meola, and Jack Enders; front: Kathleen (last name withheld) and Amanda Rampertab, were present to talk about their experience and show off their robot. See Food page 14