Support us
Robots are expensive, and a student team has no revenue. Here is what support pays for, what it gets a company in return, and how to start the conversation.
Why we ask
Building robots is amazing work. It is also an expensive way to spend a year. We are a non-profit student organization, so the team runs on school funding, fundraisers, and outside assistance — and without the last of those, a season can end before it reaches a competition.
The competitions we enter are national. The robot that carries a company's logo is seen by students, faculty, and teams from across the country, and then by everyone who meets it at a festival, a school, or an event back home in Rapid City.
Three ways to support the team
Money is the flexible one, but it is not the only one. Parts and equipment are just as welcome, and often reach a build faster.
Funds
Entry fees, the trailer and the fuel to get a robot to competition, and the parts a design needs that nobody has donated. This is the support that goes wherever the season needs it most.
Equipment
Tools, test gear, and machines for the lab. Equipment outlasts the students who use it — a donated instrument is still earning its keep ten teams later.
Parts and materials
Motors, sensors, electronics, filament, aluminum, and stock to cut. If your company makes it or stocks it, we can almost certainly build with it.
What each level gets
Support runs for the year it is given, and every level includes everything below it.
Bronze
- Company logo on the sponsors page of this website.
- Updates on the team and its competitions twice a year, for as long as the support runs.
Silver
- Company name and logo, small, on the robots we take to competition for the year.
- Everything at the Bronze level.
Gold
- Company name and logo, medium, on the robots we take to competition for the year.
- Company name and logo on the banners we take to competitions and events for the year.
- Everything at the Silver level.
Platinum
- Company name and logo, large, on the robots we take to competition for the year.
- An appreciation plaque.
- Everything at the Gold level.
Start the conversation
Email the team and tell us what you are thinking — a level, a pallet of something useful, or a question about where it would end up. We will send you the details and, if you want them, photos of the robot it paid for.