Purdue Robomasters
Purdue RoboMasters is a 137-member, non-profit student robotics organization at Purdue University that designs, builds, and programs computer-vision-enabled ground robots and aerial drones to compete in the international RoboMaster competition, funded entirely by donations and 8 corporate sponsors.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersWest Lafayette, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Purdue Robomasters does
Purdue RoboMasters is a student-led, non-profit robotics organization founded in 2017 at Purdue University that designs, manufactures, and programs a fleet of seven competition robots (six ground robots and one aerial drone) for the international RoboMaster University robotics competition. The team operates a vertically integrated structure across five sub-teams — Algorithm (computer vision and AI), Control, Electrical, Mechanical, and Business — with 137 registered members drawn from 21 nationalities and six Purdue schools (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Industrial Engineering, Polytechnic Institute, and Krannert School of Management). Notable technical components include a computer vision system using depth-image neural networks for enemy detection, a super-capacitor booster enabling 5-6x acceleration, PID-based gimbal stability and projectile trajectory control, custom PCB design for all subsystems, and a "Dodge Mode" autonomous damage-avoidance drive system.
The organization does not sell commercial products or services and generates no commercial revenue. Its sole income stream is donations and corporate sponsorships — currently 8 sponsors — channeled through the Purdue for Life Foundation, a 501(c)(3) entity under the Purdue Research Foundation that handles tax-exempt gift processing. Sponsorship funds are directed toward onboarding and educational programming, robot R&D, and travel to and hosting of competitions. Distribution and "go-to-market" activity consists of competing in RoboMaster events (fielding a coalition with UT Austin IEEE RAS and Rose-Hulman for the 2022 NA League, 4th place; 5th place at RMUL 2023 at University of Washington), hosting regional conferences at the Purdue Stewart Center, and recruiting members through semesterly callout meetings and Purdue's B-Involved fair. The team is supported by five faculty advisors (Drs. Ben Fong, Stanley H. Chan, Abolfazl Hashemi, Yan Gu, and Haiyan Zhang) plus industry advisor Andy Baker, President of AndyMark.
The primary customer segment is Purdue students seeking hands-on engineering experience beyond the classroom, addressing the gap between theoretical curricula and applied robotics practice. A secondary segment is the RoboMaster competition organizers and sponsor ecosystem (~400 universities worldwide). Marketing channels are community-led and organic: Instagram for social updates, Discord for member communication, and on-campus events for recruitment. The organization maintains its primary workspace at the 3KLN facility on 3330 Klondike Rd in West Lafayette and an office in the Amazon Krach Leadership Center.
Purdue Robomasters firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Purdue Robomasters
- Legal name
- Purdue RoboMasters
- Website
- https://purduerm.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Purdue RoboMasters is a 137-member, non-profit student robotics organization at Purdue University that designs, builds, and programs computer-vision-enabled ground robots and aerial drones to compete in the international RoboMaster competition, funded entirely by donations and 8 corporate sponsors.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Purdue Robomasters industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Robotics Competition Engineering
- akta.pro primary industry
- Competition Robotics Teams & Coaching (FLL/FTC/FRC, VEX) (EDAMADAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Robotics After-School & Enrichment Clubs (EDAMADAA), Robotics Learning Platforms (EDAFANAB), AI & Machine Learning for Robotics Programs (EDAMADAK), Robot Software, Autonomy Stacks & Simulation (ROS, digital twins) (HDAAAIAK)
Keywords
Where Purdue Robomasters is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- West Lafayette
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Purdue Robomasters business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Sponsorships: Financial support from sponsors directed toward educational/onboarding programs, R&D of robots, and travel to/hosting of competitions. Currently has 8 total sponsors.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
Purdue Robomasters product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Purdue RoboMasters is a student-led robotics team at Purdue University that designs, manufactures, and programs a fleet of seven custom-built robots (six ground robots and one aerial drone) for participation in the international RoboMaster Robotics Competition. The team is organized into Algorithm (computer vision and AI), Control, Electrical, Mechanical, and Business sub-teams, each contributing specialized engineering work toward the competition robots. Members gain hands-on experience in advanced robotics technologies including computer vision, custom PCB design, PID-based control systems, and precision manufacturing.
Product overview
Purdue RoboMasters is a student-led robotics team at Purdue University that competes in the international RoboMasters robotics competition. The team develops a fleet of seven computer vision-enabled robots (six ground robots and one aerial drone) from scratch. The organization is structured into multiple sub-teams: Algorithm (computer vision and AI), Control, Electrical, Mechanical, and Business teams, each contributing to the design, manufacturing, and programming of the competition robots. The product portfolio centers on the RoboMasters Competition Robots as the core offering, with the Standard Robot representing a key ground robot variant with improved design for shooting accuracy and self-balancing capabilities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- RoboMasters Competition Robots A fleet of seven custom-built robots (six ground robots and one aerial drone) designed, manufactured, and programmed from scratch by Purdue student engineers for participation in the international RoboMasters robotics competition. Features include computer vision-enabled targeting and enemy detection, autonomous control algorithms, custom PCB control systems, advanced mechanical designs with self-balancing capabilities, and super-capacitor boosters for accelerated movement.
Quantifiable outcome
- 4th place in RoboMaster NA League (2022)
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Purdue Robomasters
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Purdue Robomasters technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature5 records
Purdue Robomasters partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- UT Austin (IEEE RAS)minorUniversity of Texas at Austin IEEE Robotics and Automation Society team formed a coalition with Purdue RoboMasters for the RoboMaster NA League competition.
- Rose-Hulman RoboMastersminorRose-Hulman Institute of Technology RoboMasters team formed a coalition with Purdue RoboMasters for the RoboMaster NA League competition.
- Andy MarkminorAndy Mark is a company represented by Andy Baker, President of AndyMark, serving as an industry advisor to the team.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Purdue Robomasters competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Penn State Robotics Organization (ROBOX): Penn State's competitive robotics team that competed alongside Purdue at ICRA 2022 and participates in the RoboMaster ecosystem. Highly comparable student-led collegiate robotics competition team structure.
- Virginia Tech RoboGrinder: Virginia Tech's RoboMaster competition team, named alongside Purdue at ICRA 2022. Competes in the same international collegiate robotics competition with comparable engineering scope.
- MIT Robotics Team: MIT's RoboMaster competition team participating in the same international collegiate robotics circuit. Comparable large, technically sophisticated student-led team with strong industry sponsor base.
- Carnegie Mellon Robotics Club: Carnegie Mellon University's RoboMaster team participating in the same international collegiate competition. Comparable multidisciplinary student organization with deep technical pedigree.
- Texas A&M Robotics: Texas A&M's RoboMaster competition team, referenced as the next ICRA host. Competes in the same RoboMaster NA League with comparable student-led multidisciplinary structure.
- Rose-Hulman RoboMasters: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's RoboMaster team, named as a 2022 coalition partner with Purdue. Competes in the same RoboMaster NA League circuit with a similar student-led robotics team model.
- UT Austin IEEE RAS RoboMaster: University of Texas at Austin's IEEE Robotics and Automation Society RoboMaster team, explicitly named as a 2022 coalition partner with Purdue. Competes in the same RoboMaster NA League with similar multidisciplinary engineering team structure.
- University of Illinois Robotics Team: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's competitive robotics team, mentioned alongside Purdue at ICRA 2022. Comparable large-scale student-led robotics organization competing in the RoboMaster circuit.
Others
- AndyMark: AndyMark is a robotics competition parts manufacturer and industry advisor to Purdue RoboMasters (via President Andy Baker). Not a competing team but an enabling ecosystem participant — comparable because it supplies hardware used across the entire collegiate robotics competition community.
- DJI RoboMaster (RoboMaster Competition Organizer): DJI's RoboMaster program is the international competition organizer and ecosystem sponsor that Purdue RoboMasters competes in. Not a direct competitor but the governing ecosystem; comparable because it sets the technical rules, hardware standards, and tournament structure all participating teams must address.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Purdue Robomasters social profiles
Digital presencePurdue Robomasters financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Purdue Robomasters leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles15 records
Purdue Robomasters funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Purdue Robomasters M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Purdue Robomasters
What does Purdue Robomasters do?
Purdue RoboMasters is a student-led robotics team at Purdue University that designs, manufactures, and programs a fleet of seven custom-built robots (six ground robots and one aerial drone) for participation in the international RoboMaster Robotics Competition. The team is organized into Algorithm (computer vision and AI), Control, Electrical, Mechanical, and Business sub-teams, each contributing specialized engineering work toward the competition robots. Members gain hands-on experience in advanced robotics technologies including computer vision, custom PCB design, PID-based control systems, and precision manufacturing.
Is Purdue Robomasters a public or private company?
Purdue Robomasters is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Purdue Robomasters founded?
Purdue Robomasters was founded in 2017. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Purdue Robomasters based?
Purdue Robomasters is headquartered in West Lafayette, United States, in the North America region.
How does Purdue Robomasters make money?
One revenue line is on record: donations and Sponsorships.
Who are Purdue Robomasters's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Penn State Robotics Organization (ROBOX), Virginia Tech RoboGrinder, MIT Robotics Team, Carnegie Mellon Robotics Club, Texas A&M Robotics, Rose-Hulman RoboMasters, UT Austin IEEE RAS RoboMaster and University of Illinois Robotics Team. Others are AndyMark and DJI RoboMaster (RoboMaster Competition Organizer).
Does Purdue Robomasters have an API?
No public API is recorded for Purdue Robomasters.
What industry is Purdue Robomasters in?
Purdue Robomasters's product category is Robotics Competition Engineering. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAMADAE, Competition Robotics Teams & Coaching (FLL/FTC/FRC, VEX), with a secondary code of EDAMADAA, Robotics After-School & Enrichment Clubs.