Suppliers Keep FIRST Competition Robots Rolling

Several companies recently earned the title of Silver Supplier to the well-known FIRST Robotics Competition by contributing between $10,000 and $50,000 worth of engineering components that will go into this year’s construction kits.

Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions, Waterbury, Conn., donated leadscrews and antibacklash nuts. These components will be in the kit of 577 parts distributed to more than 1,800 teams of high-school students. The student teams will then be tasked with using those parts to build a robot capable of playing Breakaway, a game in which teams score based on how many soccer balls their robot can accumulate.

“Our company is proud to be a supporter of the First Robotics Competition,” says Dan Montone, a Haydon Kerk spokesperson. “It’s a great forum to cultivate practical skills in science and engineering for our future technology leaders.”

Silver Supplier Bishop-Wisecarver, donated a wide range of fasteners and power-transmission controllers for the FIRST kit. The company also cosponsors teams from three high schools near the firm’s Pittsburg, Calif., headquarters.

“It’s been an amazing experience to watch the excitement these students exude, their teamwork, and the use of their science and math skills as they turn their innovative ideas and designs into reality,” says Bishop-Wisecarver President Pamela Kan.