Running a robotics team is hard. Telion makes it easier — at any size.
This isn't a tool for big programs only. A 2-student rookie team and a 100-student powerhouse both spend real time on the same problem: coordinating people, keeping track of work, and helping students actually learn. Telion is built to make that easier at every stage.
The problem with duct-taped tools
Even a small roster needs more than a group chat can hold: who's coming Thursday, who owns the intake mechanism, who's allowed to see a student's contact info, and who's actually ready to lead a sub-team.
Spreadsheets don't notify anyone. Group chats bury tasks. And most general-purpose team tools are built for offices, not for a roster split between students, parents, and mentors with very different needs.
Built by a coach, for coaches
Telion isn't a generic project management tool with robotics branding bolted on. It's built by someone who coaches a team and uses the app with his own roster every season — every feature exists because a real team needed it.
That means proxy RSVPs for parents, availability heatmaps for build nights, and skill tracking that reflects how students actually grow on a robotics team.
Built to fit your team, not the other way around
Telion ships with a sensible default setup, but almost every part of it can be reconfigured by your admins — no code, no support ticket. Every team runs a little differently; the app is built to bend to that.
Custom roles
Define your own roles — Mentor, Captain, E-Board, Sub-team Lead, whatever your team actually calls them — and assign multiple roles per person.
Your own workflow
Task statuses, priorities, and event types start with a working default and are fully team-defined from there. Set them up to match how your team already talks about work.
Fine-grained permissions
Control who can post, pin, or manage each channel, and who can see contact info, down to the individual member if needed.
A real learning record, not a vague rating
Telion's skill tracking is built around categories and progression levels that your team defines — from "no exposure" up through "can teach others." What matters isn't the exact scale, it's what it gives you: a shared, concrete language for growth instead of a gut-feeling checkbox.
For coaches, mentors, and educators, this is the real point. It turns "I think Jordan is getting good at CAD" into an actual record you can look back on — something you can use to decide who needs help this week, who's ready to mentor a younger student, and where the whole team's skill gaps are heading into a new season. It's a coaching tool as much as a tracking tool.
What most teams actually use, side by side
The two most common setups we see are Discord for chat and Trello for tasks — often with a spreadsheet and Google Calendar bolted on. Here's how that compares to a single app.
| Telion | Slack / Discord | + Trello | + Trello + Excel | + Trello + Excel + Google Cal. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All in one place | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Automatic linking between tasks, events & chat | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Team chat | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Task & sprint tracking | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Event scheduling & RSVPs | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Skill development tracking | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Proxy RSVPs for parents | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Built specifically for robotics teams | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Apps you need to manage | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Feature comparison based on default/free functionality of each tool as of 2026. Individual teams may configure integrations between these tools to close some gaps.