Help UCLA’s PROJECT HYBRNATE Inspire the Next Generation of Innovators
We’re PROJECT HYBRNATE, a new student-led robotics organization at the University of California, Los Angeles. Our team is made up of UCLA students who grew up in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) community, and we’re working to give back by building robots, mentoring teams, and spreading access to STEM education.
Every January, we take on one of the most exciting challenges in engineering: the Robot in 3 Days (Ri3D) project. In just 72 hours, we design, build, and program a fully functional FRC-style robot right after the new game is revealed, livestreaming and publishing everything for teams around the world. But PROJECT HYBRNATE isn’t just about those three days; it’s about supporting the robotics community all year long.
What We Do
Beyond our 3-day build, we aim to dedicate our time to growing and strengthening the FRC community by:
- Volunteering at competitions as referees, judges, inspectors, and field staff
- Providing spare parts and technical help to teams in need
- Conducting outreach and demos at schools and community STEM events
- Hosting off-season meetups and workshops to connect students, mentors, and alumni
- Hosting an inaugural off-season competition to unite teams across Southern California
Everything we do, from open-source robot documentation to mentoring at events, is meant to make robotics more accessible and sustainable for everyone.
Why We’re Fundraising
PROJECT HYBRNATE is a brand-new team at UCLA, and we’re building everything from scratch. Your support helps us purchase the essential materials, tools, and equipment that make our mission possible.
Your donations will go toward:
- Robot components: motors, sensors, controllers, pneumatics, aluminum stock, etc.
- Tools and safety gear: hand tools, batteries, and protective equipment
- Media equipment: cameras and lighting to document and stream our build
- Outreach materials: demo kits, giveaways, and signage for events
Every donation directly supports student engineers and helps us give back to hundreds of FRC teams around the world through the resources we create.
How You Can Help
Your support, whether it’s a donation or simply sharing this page, helps us reach more students and grow the robotics community.
Even small contributions go a long way:
- $25 buys sensors or safety equipment
- $50 helps fund robot parts and materials
- $100 supports a prototype or subsystem build
- $250+ helps us record and share our entire Ri3D process
We’ll be sharing progress updates throughout the build season and during our outreach work, so you can follow along and see the impact of your support in real time.
Our Mission
We believe in learning through collaboration, in teaching through transparency, and in making robotics accessible to anyone who wants to be part of it. PROJECT HYBRNATE represents what engineering at UCLA is all about: teamwork, innovation, and giving back to the community that helped us start our journey.
Thank you for helping us bring this project to life and for supporting student engineers as we work to inspire the next generation of creators, builders, and problem-solvers.
Organizer
