So how much does it cost to build a robot?

Gabe O’Neal

Mrs. Straub

Economics

April 21, 2015

So how much does it cost to build a robot?

Short Answer: $18,245.11

Long Answer:

FIRST Robotics Team 1259, Paradigm Shift, is based here at Pewaukee High. What you probably didn’t know is just how much money flows through our team each year. Let’s take a look at the 2015 season expenses and income for the team.

Our robot is actually only allowed to cost $4000 max. We have to keep track of all the parts we’ve ordered and materials used to build the robot and make a Bill Of Materials (BOM) for the judges at the competition. This year, our robot came out to about $3500. But in reality, it cost more than just the materials and components we bought for it. It cost time, food, effort, and fees. That’s where the $18,254.11 comes from.

Here’s a breakdown of the expenses for our team in 2015.

Expense	Budget	Actual
Regional $ Championship Registration Fees & KOP (Kit of Parts)	$9,000.00	$5,125.00
Robot Supplies	$8,000.00	$8,454.81
Tools and Other Supplies	$4,405.88	$1,398.31
Shipping Charges	$74.76	$39.00
Team Meals	$0.00	$380.86
Spirit Supplies and T-Shirts	$2,953.62	$2,383.66
Regional Mentor Hotel Rooms	$2,801.61	$0.00
Off-season Programs	$2,300.00	$18.47
End of season banquet/Mentor Gifts	$400.00	$0.00
Miscellaneous	$350.00	$445.00
TOTAL EXPENSES (Team only)	$30,285.87	$18,245.11

Regional $ Champion Registration Fees and Kit of Parts includes the money we have to pay to compete at the regionals we attend (the Wisconsin Regional was the only official regional we attended this year) and it also includes money we pay as a team to be a team and receive the Kit of Parts from FIRST. The KOP is a bunch of components and wheels and miscellaneous items that every team gets each year. The KOP changes from year to year with the game.

Robot Supplies includes materials, components, and anything else we paid for that became part of the robot. We built two robots this year so we could have one for practice. We also did not end up using everything we bought. That’s why the total is over $4000 for robot supplies.

Food comes into play in the Team Meals section. We have lunch as a team on Saturdays during the build season and that is paid for with money we raise.

Some sections have not been fully updated yet. We actually just had our banquet and the business team has not met yet to be able to calculate the actual expenses for the banquet and mentor gifts.

So where does all that money come from?

Income	Budget	Actual
Sponsor Donations	$29,770.00	$19,399.38
Income - Other Student Dues $90 per student	$2,380.00	$1,925.00
Income - Other Concessions/50-50 - Booster Club	$2,162.13	$2,126.84
Income - Other Miscellaneous	$883.59	$2,081.69
TOTAL INCOME (Team only)	$35,195.72	$25,532.91

The bulk of our income is from Sponsor donations. We are sponsored by many local businesses and our top sponsor gives us $5000.

We fundraise year round and make trips to our sponsors’ sites to demo the robot and give them a presentation about where their money is going. We have a program called 100x100. Team members travel around Pewaukee and try to get 100 businesses to donate $100 each.

This year, we started the season with $5,935.34 left over from last year. The rollover and income might look like a lot, but as a team, we became worried when we lost some major sponsors.

With a budget and business meetings, our team is managed as a not-for-profit business.

Unlike a free market economy, sometimes we are told what to buy or who to buy it from. This is important in ensuring that teams around the world have a standard component . These are also elastic goods because no matter what they cost, we will buy them so that we are able to compete.

There are times in the season when parts go out of stock. Our robot this year had mecanum wheels. These wheels have rollers at 45 degree angles and, when 4 wheels are arranged in a certain orientation, the robot can drive not only forward and backward, but it can strafe left and right as well. For a while, these wheels were scarce. Demand for these wheels went way up when we heard about the game this year. Since only one manufacturer made the wheels that most teams wanted, they went out of stock for a period of time. This shortage made teams’ demand even higher, as each team wanted to be the first to order their wheels as soon as AndyMark got them in stock.

If our robot were to count into America’s GDP, we would have to make sure not to count all the individual parts, but the value of the robot itself. We could also add up all the other robots that were produced this year by teams in the U.S.

Income distribution between teams in the U.S. is very noticeable. Teams with more money have access to better technology, can go to more competitions, and can fund many off-season events. In the world of FIRST, it’s obvious what teams have more money than others, even if you don’t know the exact numbers.  This is caused by where the teams live and what sponsors they can get to sponsor them . Take team 118 for example. The Robonauts are sponsored by NASA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-fA0YxxvnU

FIRST isn’t all about building robots. There is a whole business and economic side to it. Danny Ketterman led our business team this year and last year and it will be tough next year without him. His experience with FIRST has prompted him to study economics and business in college.

So now when people hear how much money our team raises and spends, I hope they have more of an understanding of what is all required to build a robot.

Works Cited

6" Mecanum Wheels. Digital image. AndyMark. AndyMark, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.

Ridley, Justin. "Team 118 Robonauts 2015." YouTube. YouTube, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.