Robotics Club of Central Florida

What Robotics Club of Central Florida does

The Robotics Club of Central Florida (RCCF) is a non-profit university student organization based at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. Founded in 1972, the club operates as a student-run entity with an executive board of approximately 13 student leaders and a faculty advisor. It serves UCF students through free membership, with no fees charged to participants. The organization has self-reported 53 completed projects since its founding, and runs roughly six workshops and twelve community outreach events per semester, alongside competitive engineering efforts and a stated research component.

RCCF's technical portfolio spans multiple robotic platforms. Project S.T.O.R.M. is a Mars rover developed for the University Rover Challenge, DayDream is a VEX competition robot that achieved a top 10% global ranking, and a new electric watercraft project was entered into the Promoting Electric Propulsion (PEP) competition in 2024. The club also references a separate "Tape Measure" companion robotic product. Technical work covers mechanical fabrication, custom printed circuit board design (with documented revisions V0.1 through V2), software development, and integration with ArduPilot, an open-source third-party autopilot framework. No proprietary AI/ML, autonomous-driving stack, or commercial product line is disclosed.

The club's revenue model is entirely sponsor-funded. RCCF operates a tiered corporate sponsorship program ranging from a $250 "Aluminum Ally" tier up to a $5,000+ "Processor Patron" tier, with stated benefits including logo placement, project mentions, and recruitment access to UCF engineering students. GRIPEDGE TOOLS is disclosed as the club's top-tier sponsor. There is no membership revenue, no product revenue, no disclosed annual funding total, no audited financials, and no equity or debt instruments — the organization is a 501(c)-style non-profit university club whose sole disclosed cash inflow is corporate sponsorship.

Name

Robotics Club of Central Florida

Legal name

Robotics Club of Central Florida

Website

https://rccf.club

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Robotics Club of Central Florida is a non-profit student organization at the University of Central Florida, founded in 1972, that engages UCF students in robotics projects, competitions, and outreach via tiered corporate sponsorships and free membership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Robotics Education Services

NAICS

Sports and Recreation Instruction (611620), Computer Training (61142)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Robotics Learning Platforms (EDAFANAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Competition Robotics Teams & Coaching (FLL/FTC/FRC, VEX) (EDAMADAE), University/College Club Sports Programs (MPAKACAK)

Keywords

• Student robotics club
• Robotics education
• Engineering competitions
• STEM outreach programs
• Hands-on workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Orlando

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Sponsorships: Tax-deductible corporate sponsorships at multiple tiers (Processor Patron $5,000+, Circuit Supporter up to $3,000, Bolt Backer up to $1,000, Aluminum Ally $250) providing logo placement, promotional materials, and workspace recognition in exchange
2. Membership: Free membership for students; club is funded through sponsorships rather than membership fees

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Robotics Club of Central Florida is a non-profit student organization at the University of Central Florida that delivers hands-on robotics project teams (Mars rovers, electric watercraft, VEX competition robots), roughly six educational workshops per semester, community STEM outreach at about a dozen events per semester, and informal research opportunities, with all projects drop-in certified so that no formal skills are required to participate. The club fields two national competition teams annually (University Rover Challenge and ASNE Promoting Electric Propulsion) and is funded by tax-deductible corporate sponsorships rather than membership fees.

Product overview

The Robotics Club of Central Florida is a student organization offering a unified portfolio of robotics projects, workshops, and outreach programs. The core offerings include hands-on project teams (Promoting Electric Propulsion for electric watercraft, Project S.T.O.R.M. for Mars rovers, and DayDream for VEX robotics), approximately 6 educational workshops per semester, and community outreach reaching 12+ opportunities per semester. The club provides informal research opportunities and competes in 2 national competitions annually. All projects are drop-in certified with no formal skills required, emphasizing accessibility to robotics education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tape Measure: A robotic companion project that involves research at RCCF. It is described as the club's resident robotic companion.

Products and services

• Robotics Project Teams Hands-on robotics project teams where students design, build, and test various robotic systems including electric watercraft, Mars rovers, and VEX competition robots. Each project is led by a project lead and team leads, and all projects are drop-in certified so no formal skills are required to join.
• Workshops Educational workshops offering hands-on learning experiences with various robotics components and systems, open to both members and non-members. Approximately six workshops are offered every semester, including programming and resume critiques.
• Promoting Electric Propulsion Project Collegiate engineering competition team designing and building high-performance electric watercraft for the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) Promoting Electric Propulsion competition, with two student members working on battery management, motor control, hull design, and navigation systems using ArduPilot.
• Project S.T.O.R.M. Mars rover design team competing at the University Rover Challenge in southern Utah, where nine student members research, design, build, and test complex systems to accomplish competition tasks.
• DayDream Robotics VEX robotics competition team building competition robots with opportunities in design, build, programming, and engineering notebook development. The team has finished in the top 10% globally (35th worldwide, 3rd in Florida) in the VEX robotics competition.
• Outreach Program Community engagement initiative reaching STEM-related events such as Maker Fair and STEM Day at UCF, focused on breaking down barriers to robotics and making robotics accessible to everyone regardless of background. Approximately 12 outreach opportunities are offered every semester through the outreach committee.
• Research Opportunities (Tape Measure) Collaborative informal research opportunities involving bleeding-edge robotics technologies, exemplified by the Tape Measure robotic companion project. Research at RCCF is informal, offering the benefits of participation without deadline or failure pressure.

Quantifiable outcome

• 53 completed projects over club history
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsors the Promoting Electric Propulsion competition that the club participates in annually. Competition challenges students to design and build high-performance electric watercraft.
• University Rover ChallengecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational collegiate competition where teams put their Mars rovers to the test in southern Utah. Project S.T.O.R.M. represents the club at this competition.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Mars Society: Organizer of the University Rover Challenge (URC), the international collegiate competition where RCCF's Project S.T.O.R.M. competes. Comparable as the ecosystem partner/competition host enabling RCCF's flagship Mars rover program.
• Make Community (Maker Faire): Operator of Maker Faire, one of the STEM outreach events RCCF regularly participates in. Comparable as an ecosystem partner enabling RCCF's community outreach and maker/robotics visibility.

Broad incumbents

• FIRST Robotics: National organizer of K-12 robotics competitions (FIRST, FRC, FTC, FLL) that overlap with RCCF's competition domain. Comparable as a major robotics competition organizer and STEM outreach entity, though focused on K-12 vs. RCCF's collegiate focus.
• REC Foundation (VEX Robotics): Organizer of the VEX robotics competitions that RCCF's DayDream team competes in. Comparable as the institutional backbone of the competition ecosystem RCCF participates in, though it operates at much larger scale.

Direct peers

• Stanford Robotics Club: Stanford's student-run robotics organization supporting project teams across mechanical, electrical, and software disciplines. Directly comparable to RCCF as a university-affiliated club focused on robotics projects and competitions.
• MITERS (MIT): MIT's student-run robotics makerspace and club, providing project workspace, fabrication equipment, and competition teams. Directly comparable as a university-affiliated student organization focused on hands-on robotics projects and competitions.
• RoboJackets (Georgia Tech): Georgia Tech's flagship student-run robotics organization, competing in multiple national competitions and operating multiple project teams. Highly comparable to RCCF in structure (university student club), competition participation, and project-based learning model.
• Cornell Mars Rover Team: Cornell's University Rover Challenge team designing and building Mars rovers for the same competition RCCF's Project S.T.O.R.M. competes in. Direct peer in URC competition space with similar engineering scope.
• UC Berkeley Robotics: University of California's collegiate robotics community spanning multiple student-led project teams and competition entries. Comparable to RCCF in mission, structure, and competition-driven learning model.
• Carnegie Mellon Robotics Club: Top-tier university robotics organization at CMU supporting multiple competition teams and student-led projects. Comparable to RCCF as a collegiate robotics community offering hands-on engineering experience and competition participation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/RoboticsClubatUCF
• Instagraminstagram.com/ucf_robotics
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/robotics-club-of-central-florida

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Robotics Club of Central Florida