ServoCity Blog

We recently had the chance to head over to St. Louis for a weekend and witness one of the most awesome STEM events around the world- the FIRST® World Championship.  You should definitely check out their site to learn more about the amazing work they’re doing, but even better yet, the amazing work of these students.  You’ll be blown away by their ingenuity, skill and teamwork!  Heads up companies, this is a thriving recruitment ground for exceptional future employees.

Founded over a quarter of a century ago, by Dean Kamen-the program continues to thrive. With over 400,000 young people around the world building robots-these students are and will continue to change the world around us.

Our first night there we went to the Opening Ceremony at the Edward Jones Dome. The excitement was definitely felt by all!

Friday and Saturday we spent the days walking through the team pit areas meeting some awesome students and watching competitions. One of our favorite parts of the event was meeting the teams and listening to them describe their robots. We know we’re robotics enthusiasts, but it’s so awesome to see other people, especially students, so excited about engineering/robotics! Even if you do not know much about robotics, it’s hard not to catch the contagious enthusiasm :) One of the many things our team was super impressed with is the how small the builds are for how intricate and advanced the designs are! (The robots are impressive!)

We finally met in person some teams we sponsored this past year!  Meet FTC Team 5257 Eagles Robotics Xperience from Atlantic High School in Delray Beach, FL.  Wow! Their build was truly amazing.

Meet FTC Team 6002, the Basilisks!  This team knows the meaning of drive and dedication.  We had a chance to visit with them, where we found out they spend most days during the summer even working seven hours on their robot!  Wow!

Meet FTC Team 6433, the Neutrinos, also the 2014-2015 World Champions.  Unfortunately, we were not able to meet with them in St. Louis to due competition schedules, but we were extremely excited and proud of all their hard work this past season!

Congratulations to all FTC teams for all your hard work throughout your season, regardless of whether your team made it to Worlds this year or not. We’re sure your team gained a ton of knowledge throughout the year and are already gearing up for this coming 2015-2016 season. Which is why we want to let you know about all the different ways your team can partner with ServoCity®/Actobotics®.

In case you’re confused, ServoCity is the designer and manufacturer of the Actobotics® product line. Many of you are probably familiar with Actobotics®, however if you aren’t, feel free to contact us or one of the many FTC teams using our parts. You would probably be most familiar with our ServoBlocks™

but we have a slue of additional parts which are competition legal.  Actobotics® is a ball bearing based precision building system. The unique overlapping hole patterns allow for virtually unlimited mounting possibilities, and the precision components offer structures with tight tolerances and low friction.  In addition, it is compatible with nearly every build system due to its unique hole pattern, including the .625″ hole pattern like the .770″ x .625″ Hub Adaptor.

Overlapping hole patterns offer extreme versatility when designing and building structures.Overlapping hole patterns offer extreme versatility when designing and building structures.

So here is how your FTC team can partner with ServoCity®/Actobotics®:

• 25% off Discount –In our effort to help cultivate STEM programs, we offer great discounts to FIRST® teams. In 2014-2015 we granted teams a 20% discount on Actobotics® parts, and this season we’re upping our game by offering 25% OFF to all FTC teams! It’s easy to apply and your unique discount code is valid for the entire season.
• Free Parts Newsletter – Want to receive a FREE part every 6-8 weeks? Sign up for our FTC Newsletter and we’ll email you every once and a while with a selection of new parts to choose from. Simply reply back and let us know which one your team wants us to send your way – it’s that easy! Send an email to [email protected] with the subject: Free Parts Newsletter. Please include the FTC team you are affiliated with.
• Sponsorship – We’re giving away FIVE team sponsorships in the form of $1,000 worth of free parts. That can buy a lot of parts for your robot! If you’re interested in applying, complete our online applicationand tell us in 1,000 words or less what you and your team have learned by being a part of FIRST®, or if your a rookie team, what your looking forward to by being a part of FIRST®. The application deadline is August 31, 2015
• Scholarship – This coming September we will be offering three $500 scholarships, one specifically for FIRST® students. Be sure to check back on the FIRST® website in September to apply!

Good luck to all the teams this coming season.  Looking forward to watching your progress!