The Hackbots are a diverse and collaborative team, and each year we inspire our community as volunteers, allowing us to push boundaries for STEM through building robots while also supporting causes close to our hearts: service and sustainability.  Our mission is to inspire students to use their hands-on experience and leadership skills as they move forward in life. The Hackbots have a commitment to outreach which can be seen in our philosophy: instead of using the community to build STEM, we use STEM to build the community. This is why each member performs various outreach events throughout the season.

Robo Camps

Hackbots host many camps for various underserved members of the community. This year, we had camps for Farmington African American Parent Network and middle and high school students with learning challenges. During these camps, we provide coding practice, mechanical experience, leadership skills, pizza, and more. These camps provide vital skills for members of our community that normally don't receive this support.

TechGirls

TechGirls is a program aimed at middle-school girls to help introduced into the world of STEM from a young age. The girls are able to freely learn important STEM skills, such as welding and soldering in a supportive environment. The Hackbots have hosted TechGirls annually since 2015.

FAAPN Tutoring

To increase team diversity, especially within the African American population, The Hackbots work with a local organization, the Farmington African American Parent Network (FAAPN) to help tutor at Super Saturdays, a weekly event to help supplement children's education. Along with providing tutors, we have also hosted a demonstration of our robot to introduce the kids to STEM and our team.

Hygiene Drive

The Hackbots have continued its relationship with Operation Common Good (OCG) in conducting a Hygiene Drive. We distribute hygiene supplies to families in need in the Farmington/Farmington Hills Community from January through mid-February. Through our combined efforts, we have collected thousands of items for the community.

Giving-Bot

The Hackbots also partner with OCC in our annual giving bot to help give gifts to families in need during the holiday season. Hackbots members  take a tag off our robot (the tree) containing requested items through Amazon wishlist, and purchase the requested gift. At the end of this event, the team successfully donate the gifts to families in the Farmington/Farmington Hills area.​

HackBoxes

Since 2018, the Hackbots have promoted hygiene is through our Hackboxes. Similar to Little Free Libraries, the Hackbots have created the boxes to “give what you can and take what you need,” system. We’ve also developed technology to record when the boxes have been accessed to better keep the boxes serviced.

STEM Kits

In 2018, we started making STEM kits, which are free and available year-round at 9 community locations. We expanded this program globally in 2020 by providing over 150 STEM kits annually to students at the Los Brazos school in the Dominican Republic. The kits are translated into Spanish to help further their STEM education. We also provide YouTube videos with step-by-step instructions to build the kits. This allows science teachers to enhance their classroom learning with their students.​

Community Outreach

The Hackbots participate and show off our robot in many events for our community, including:
  • Farmers Market
  • Founders Festival
  • Library Events
  • Sponsor and Student Group Demonstrations
We also assist our community through exciting outreach opportunities like:
  • Battery Collection Drives (Purple is the New Green)
  • FPS Stem Nights
  • FTC/FLL Events

FTC Teams

The Hackbots helped start four FTC teams, the Hackbytes at Power Middle School, The STEAM Bots at Farmington STEAM Academy, The CyberVikings at Warner Middle School and the Engineers at Our Lady of Sorrows. The teams share a working space with the Hackbots throughout the pre-season, allowing for continuous assistance when needed. The Hackbots often mentor and assist the FTC teams in the creation of their robots, graphics, and other endeavors.

FLL Teams

Similar to our FTC teams, the Hackbots have created and supported many FLL teams. One of our FLL teams are the Hackbees, who were founded in 2023. Like with our FTC teams, our FLL teams heavily benifit from the Hackbot's support in engineering, graphics, business, and more.