Useful Resources
Local stores that sell kits and parts
Youth Programs
FIRST: Founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST® is a global nonprofit organization that prepares young people for the future through a suite of life-changing youth robotics programs that build skills, confidence, and resilience.
LEGO League (ages 4-16; grades PreK-8)
Tech Challenge (ages 12-18; grades 7-12)
FIRST Robotics Competition (ages 14-18; grades 9-12)
BEST Robotics Inc.: Through participation in our project-based STEM program, students learn to analyze and solve problems utilizing the Engineering Design Process, which helps them develop technological literacy skills. Each fall, over 850 middle and high schools and over 18,000 students participate in the competition.
Vex Robotics: VEX Robotics is educational robotics for everyone. VEX solutions span all levels of both formal and informal education with accessible, scalable, and affordable solutions. Beyond science and engineering principles, VEX encourages creativity, teamwork, leadership, and problem solving among groups. It allows educators of all types to engage and inspire the STEM problem solvers of tomorrow!
iD Tech (at Georgia Tech): Our camps strike the perfect balance between STEM skill development and summer fun, allowing kids and teens to experience a week at an inspiring university location.
RoboThink: RoboThink is a leading STEM, coding, robotics and engineering program nurturing geniuses across 23 countries to thousands of students each day. Our exciting themed STEM programs develops core STEM skills that students apply to school subjects and their future careers.
BRICKS 4 KIDZ: Ignite your child’s curiosity, fuel their passion and unlock their full potential with our STEAM programs, in an environment where learning is celebrated, friendships are made and tomorrow’s innovators are shaped.
Beginners Links
The Robot Room: David Cook's site has lots of robot projects
Society of Robots: Many useful robot tutorials, calculators and "how to" info
Spark Fun Tutorials: 70+ tutorials on a many electronics and robot subjects
Charlesg's electric vehicle newbie cheat sheet: Beginners guide to building small electric vehicles
A Guide to Robotics Technology: Overview of what a robot is and does
Robot Brains
Arduino: Arduino designs and sells open source microcontrollers for use in your projects. For beginners, the Arduino Uno is a great little microcontroller for learning how to write code that will run on your future robot. There is also the free Arduino IDE - a program you install on your computer where you write code, and then send the code to the Arduino microcontroller to run.
Arduino microcontrollers can talk to many types of sensor directly, but it's going to need some help if you want to connect some motors, add a screen, or other more interesting functions. Arduino "Shields" are add-on circuit boards that help an Arduino connect to all kinds of devices such as a Motor Shield, Sound Shield, or Touchscreen Shield.
Arduino Tutorials: How to program and use the popular Arduino platform
Raspberry Pi: Raspberry Pi is a pocket-sized computer than can run a full OS like Linux. It can't talk directly to as many sensors as an Arduino can, but it has much more processing power. A Raspberry Pi can work with sensors and motors with the help of Hats - small add-on circuit boards designed for specific functions. There are lots of options for Hats, check out a few from our friends at Pi-Plates.
Element 14: Raspberry Pi community
Robot Parts and Kits
Pololu: Pololu sells great robot kits and their selection of motors and motor accessories for hobbyists is unparalleled. If you're building a Polyathlon, Mini Sumo, or other drive-around robot from scratch, you can count on ordering quite a few items from Pololu. They often have sales on major holidays in the US and their Black Friday deals lure us in every year.
Adafruit: Adafruit is best known for their variety of flashy LED modules and great selection of displays and other interfaces. If you're designing wearables, Adafruit is a great place to start. They have very detailed guides and high quality software libraries for their products and lots of project pages to get you thinking about your own next project.
Sparkfun: Sparkfun sells all kinds of electronics and sensors for your robot projects. While Pololu and Adafruit design nearly all their products themselves, Sparkfun manufactures and distributes a good number of items designed by their own customers or other hobbyists in their community. Don't worry though, Sparkfun doesn't sell junk and is dedicated to providing support for all of the products they sell. Sparkfun also has an active blog and churns out high quality tutorials for those looking to learn more.
Servo City: Whether you need electronic or mechanical components for use in robotics, RC, education, animatronics, videography, photography, industrial projects, and a wide array of other fields, Servo City hopes you will find what you are looking for and is there to help if you need it.
Parallax: Parallax not only develops and sells robot kits and parts, they also developed their own classroom educational programs. Their robot kits come with step by step instructions that make it easy to learn how robots work.
Trossen Robotics: For over twenty years, Trossen Robotics has specialized in integrating technology and precision manufacturing into robotics as both a reseller and a manufacturer. They supply research labs and educational institutions with the hardware, tools, and software they need for cutting-edge projects. Recently, Trossen Robotics expanded into wholly integrated research kits for robotic machine learning and AI.
Jameco's Robot Store: Jameco Electronics has been a leading electronics component distributor for over 50 years. They have helped millions of customers, from businesses to educational institutions to hobbyists.
Lynxmotion: Lynxmotion kits are in use teaching many aspects of robotics all over the world. These are not “toys”, but vehicles for developing and learning about complex robotic principles. They are a lot of fun, though. RobotShop inc., acquired Lynxmotion in August 2012.
Robot Shop: At RobotShop, their purpose is - "Together, fostering a world full of robots that positively impacts our lives". Founded in 2003, they specialize in robotics technology and offer a wide range of products and services in this sector.
Acroname Robotics: Acroname, Inc. provides expertise and products for applications in embedded robotic, automation, control systems and AV conference rooms.
goBILDA: goBILDA® products are purpose-designed to lower the barrier-to-entry for robotics. As part of that mission, we’re proud to provide discounts and technical resources for participants in the FIRST Tech Challenge, which fosters STEM education for grades 7-12.
Banebots: Wheels, motors, gearboxes, electronics etc.
Dimension Engineering: Regenerative PWM Motor Controllers, Radio Control & Sensors
Nerd Kits: Learn about electronics and embeded systems wit kits
Servo City: Servos, motors, hubs, wheels, gears, sprockets, chain, R/C systems, etc.
The Robot Marketplace: Combat Robot parts, materials, motors, wheels, speed controllers, batteries, chargers
Circuit Specialists: Stepper motors, test equipment, electronic parts etc.
Battery Space: Batteries and chargers
Electronics Parts
Mechanical Parts & Tools
Harbor Freight: Cheap tools
McMaster-Carr: Massive inventory of industrial tools, materials and equipment
MSC Industrial Supply: Metalworking Tools, Equipment, Materials, and Industrial Supplies
Northern Tool: Tools and equipment
Stock Drive Products; High quality gears, belts, pullys, motors etc
Travers Tool Co.: Metalworking Tools, Equipment and Industrial Supplies
Granger: Industrial tools and equipment
Micro-Mark: Small tools for model makers
Automation Direct: Industrial controls and related products
Technical Information, calculators and tools
Online Conversion: (Unit conversion)
Ohms Law Calculators: Enter numbers into the equations to calculate Current, Power, Resistance, or Voltage.
Instructables: (Many how-to articles on a wide variety of subjects)
Datasheets360: Datasheets for electronic parts
Element-14: (Design engineer community)
Electronics Calculators: (Many useful electronics calculators)
Discover Circuits: (Thousands of circuits and schematics)
TechLib: Unusual electronic circuits (audio amps, radiation detectors, VLF receivers, geiger counter, etc)
Online analog active filter wizard: Low and high pass filter design tool from Analog Devices
LC Filter design tool: (Lowpass, Highpass, Bandpass and Bandstop with frequency plots)
Linear design tools: ( LTspice and others, Windows only) LTspice Yahoo user group
Member's Websites
Dale's Homemade Robots: Polyathlon, Mini Sumo, 1/3/12/30 lb Combat Robots, Balancing Robots, Vacuum Robots
Charles Guan: EV's, Combat Robots, Drones
Eric Ayers: Bug Bot