Sponsors

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is a private university located in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States. Founded in 1865 in Worcester, WPI was one of the nation’s first engineering and technology universities. WPI’s 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, management, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees.

National Instrument

National Instruments (NI) was founded in 1976 with a strong dedication to  producing automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software. They are well known for their graphical development environment, LabVIEW, and a number of electronic boards including the RIO line. National Instrument was kind enough to donate  a Single Board RIO for the purposes of this project.

Maxon Motors is a manufacture of electric EC- and DC-Motors and corresponding encoders, gears and control electronics. They are the world’s leading supplier of high-precision drive systems. More than 40 years’ experience, constant innovation, top-quality products and competent customer service make maxon motor a reliable partner in the drive technology sector. Their motors and encoders will power the robot and provide us accurate positions

Lake Shore Carbide is a company devoted to distributing high quality USA made carbide end mills at the lowest prices possible. Before they place an end mill line on their site it must withstand aggressive testing. Their endmills continue to outperform our competitors in the machining of tool steels, stainless steels, carbon alloys and aluminum alloys. The endmills achieve this due to the use of high quality American carbide, unique geometries, and high quality coatings. The end result is a high performance endmill that delivers solid reliablility at a value price. Their cutting tools will allow us to complete some of the most complex cutting operations which we have.

SolidWorks is a 3D mechanical CAD program developed by Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. SolidWorks was first introduced in 1995 as a competitor to other CAD programs. SolidWorks is currently used by over 1.3 million engineers and designers at more than 130,000 companies worldwide. We graciously thank SolidWorks for their donation in helping us purchase batteries, providing us with SolidWorks software which we use to CAD the robot and giving us some nice looking shirts.

A123 Systems develops and manufactures advanced lithium-ion (lithium iron phosphate) batteries and battery systems for the transportation, electric grid services and commercial markets. The company is a lead manufacturer of battery technology and without their resources this robot would simply not be posssible. The team is being sponsored by Enerland, a division of A123 Systems. We thank them for the cells they will be providing us.

MicroStrain, Inc. makes tiny sensors that are used in a wide range of applications, including knee implants, civil structures, advanced manufacturing, unmanned military vehicles, and automobile engines.  Their inclinometer product line was initially developed to measure angles of limbs to help re-animate the limbs of paralyzed individuals.  We thank them for the inclinometer that they are providing for us, which will allow for robot location and orientation to be determined.

QinetiQ North America is a United States based military robotics manufacturer. Its two best-known products are TALON robots and LAST Armor. Founded and based in Waltham, Massachusetts, it has offices in Washington, D.C., Albany, New York, and near Boston. QinetiQ North America has about 300 members of staff skilled in aeronautical engineering, administration, chemical engineering, chemistry, physics, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, statistics, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, polymers, polymerization, electromechanical engineering. QinetiQ works in the fields of robotics, advanced materials, sensors, custom machinery, medical device design, biopharmaceuticals, C4ISR and transportation. They will be a huge help to the project!

The MathWorks, Inc. is a privately held, multi-national corporation that specializes in mathematical computing software. Its major products include MATLAB and Simulink. In addition to their application in industry and government, the company’s tools are used for teaching and research at universities worldwide. As of April 2010, it employed 2,200 people worldwide with 70% located at the company’s headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts.

Yarde Metals is a worldwide distributor and processor of aluminum, stainless, carbon steel, brass, nickel and titanium alloys.  Yarde’s headquarters is located in Southington, CT and has nine service centers located throughout the U.S.  The company has expanded internationally throughout Europe and Asia. They have provided us some  amazing discounts on their metal.

Onvio is the premier U.S. manufacturer of high precision planetary gearboxes,
cycloidal reducers and timing belt pulleys. For nearly 30 years, Onvio products have served customers throughout the precision automation industries. They manufacture a complete range of standard products and our solutions group can offer unique, innovative solutions specific to your needs. We will be using 8 high precision Onvio gearboxes to power the shoulder and knee joints of our robot.

Bobobots is dedicated to the design, engineering and manufacturing of the highest quality, performance driven brushed DC servo motors.  The power delivered by these motors is comparable by few companies and we are extremely lucky to have Bobobots as a sponsor.

Venom Group International [VGI] is an evolving entrepreneurial story of what can happen when creative minds meet, actions are taken and dreams are pursued. It is a story about the power of an idea, of innovation, of teamwork and unity of purpose, the power of determination and the power of persistence.  Venom has lots of hobby products including hobby motors, batteries, chargers, and even RC cars.

HYDRO-CUTTER provides Precision Waterjet Cutting services to a wide array of industries and companies. We utilize the latest technologies, equipment and processes to cut materials that are difficult to machine or manufacture using traditional methods. Tom Gravel has been  extremely generous donating countless hours of his machine time to help us with some of the manufacturing of this project.

Today, St. Pierre is  the largest manufacturer of pitching horseshoes. Their product line includes the American, a NHPA approved “professional” shoe, and the Royal, an all-purpose “official” shoe for backyard players. Along with horseshoes and tire chains, St. Pierre also manufactures and distributes industrial chain and slings at its facility on 317 East Mountain Street in Worcester, Massachusetts

We are always looking for more sponsors. If your company is interested please email us at sabertooth [at] wpi [dot] edu.