Little Epsilons win Strategy and Innovation Award at FIRST Regionals in Melbourne

FIRST LEGO League Regional Competition in Melbourne

A rookie team of young science enthusiasts, aged 9-12 years, put their robot design skills to the test and came out winners in the recent FIRST LEGO League Regional Competition in Melbourne.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) team Little Epsilons were excited to win the Strategy and Innovation Award at the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Regional Competition held recently in Melbourne. This award recognises a team that uses solid engineering practices and a well-developed strategy to design and build an innovative, high performing robot.

Designed to immerse children in real world science and technology challenges, FIRST LEGO League teams research a real world problem and are challenged to develop a solution. The team also must design, build, program a robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS, and then compete on a table-top playing field.

Kerryn Sakko, senior application engineer at Rockwell Automation volunteered to coach and mentor the Little Epsilons, organising bi-weekly workshop sessions since August to offer support and guidance on their robot-building journey. “This year’s challenge was focused on Hydro Dynamics so the children investigated real life water/wastewater challenges and designed a robot to address these.”

“It has been amazing to see how these remarkable children have worked together and what they come up with, they really do take a fun and innovative approach to the whole process,” said Kerryn.

Team Little Epsilons are an inspiring example of what can happen when children who have never met each other before are grouped together, provided with a real life challenge and Lego kits.

Rockwell Automation is recognised as a FIRST Strategic Partner, which signifies the highest levels of support available at FIRST. Over the past 10 years, the company has provided broad-based support to address the critical need to fill science, technology, education and math jobs that drive innovation.

Where to next for the Little Epsilons? After such a successful and exciting rookie year, they are now looking forward to growing the team and participating in the 2018 FLL competition.

Rockwell Automation TechED - Auckland

14-16 February 2018

SKYCITY Auckland Convention Centre
88 Federal Street
Auckland

Premier Inspiration
The Rockwell Automation TechED event gives you 3-days of unique ways of learning, exploring and discovering techniques for creating innovating, high-performance manufacturing and production applications.

There is much more in store for you at Rockwell Automation TechED:

• Explore the latest technologies utilizing analytics, mobility and the cloud
• See presentations and hear real-world application stories directly from companies implementing a variety of automation strategies and optimizing their control systems and operations.
• Work directly with Rockwell Automation products and technology solutions available in the hands-on labs.
• Learn how data from smart, connected industrial assets can be transformed into meaningful insights.

Designed for end users, system integrators, distributors, partners and machine builders, Rockwell Automation TechED gives you the chance to work with the latest Rockwell Automation products and technology solutions in a classroom environment. Learn from industry experts. See how your peers are solving many common manufacturing and production challenges.

For further information, please contact:
Tony Kerrigan
Email: trkerrigan@ra.rockwell.com

New Year, New Chairman

Rockwell Automation announced its board of directors elected president and chief executive officer Blake D. Moret as chairman of the board effective Jan 1, 2018. Moret succeeds Keith D. Nosbusch, who has served as chairman since 2005 and remains as a director.

“Blake is a champion of the company’s high performance culture with an extraordinary ability to inspire and connect with customers, employees, partners and the leadership team,” said Donald R. Parfet, lead director. “The board is confident that this leadership structure will continue to drive the company’s success.”

Asset Management Excellence

Rockwell Automation received the Delphi Pinnacle Award in recognition of its cost-saving services for the company in 2016. Delphi, the largest automotive components company in the world, annually recognizes top-tier suppliers who help the company achieve quality, value and cost-performance improvements.

To help achieve the cost savings, Rockwell Automation worked with the diesel components business of Delphi to implement the Rockwell Automation Asset Management Program since 2012. The service provides an on-site asset management professional to collaborate with companies to help manage inventory, mitigate obsolescence risk and reduce maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) parts costs by as much as 25 percent. From installing a Base Evaluation assessment to creating a customer-specific combination of services, capabilities and proven methodologies, the whole process has helped Delphi reduce cost tied to MRO by hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

“Rockwell Automation is honored to receive recognition from Delphi,” said Marc Baret, director of Industrial Services and Solutions, Rockwell Automation. “The automotive industry has been under pressure to reduce costs, and a key way to manage that challenge is by reducing inventory and making better use of components on-site. These best practices can be applied to any industry.”

Free Ebook: Special Report on Electrical Systems

Published by The Journal from Rockwell Automation and Our PartnerNetwork™, the “2017 Special Report on Electrical Systems” Ebook is now available for free download in an interactive PDF format.

Recognizing that the electrical systems are the heart of any production system, the Ebook highlights best practices for variable-frequency drive maintenance, drive system configuration, energy and cost efficiency, and worker safety. OEMs can learn key standards and tips for designing equipment that meets U.S. industrial standards, computer-aided engineering (CAE) system upgrade, and other top content to gain ideas and insight to optimize motors, control panels, employee safety, power quality and more.

“2017 Special Report on Electrical Systems” Ebook is currently only available in English.