A team of middle- and high-school students in Gibsonton, Florida are showing off their math and science skills by designing, building and programming a competitive robot using IKO International linear guides. With IKO in their corner, the team is outscoring rivals and setting records along the way. They call themselves Neutrinos 6433, and the team competes in the FIRST Tech Challenge at a Central Florida tournament held in Lakeland, Florida. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) inspires innovation and leadership in young people through engaging, team-based robotics challenges. The challenges are designed to demonstrate the accuracy, timing and precision of the robot. For example, one match pitted four robots against each other inside a ring. Competitors were given a task that tested their robots’ ability to maneuver around the ring, and to grasp, arrange and stack Lego-like blocks.

The Neutrinos 6433 team discovered IKO while researching potential linear motion guides to design into the robot. IKO International sponsored the Neutrinos 6433 team and supplied the linear motion guides that helped lead the robot to victory. IKO was also available to mentor Neutrinos 6433, and the team tackled their challenges with little assistance, using the following IKO motion guides:

MX linear motion guide. One of the highest performing and dependable guides available. The MX Series guide features a slide unit that operates on a balanced set of four cylindrical rollers housed in a rigid casing, giving it high load capacity and exceptional stiffness and resistance to moment loads. This construction maximizes accuracy, produces a more compact design than ball-type units, and it gives the robot its streamlined size and excellent maneuverability. The MX Series is available in four different lengths