What we do
Ironclad Robotics (founded 2008, 85 active members) is the university’s largest engineering-focused student org. We build combat robots — 3-lb “Beetleweights” and 15-lb “Featherweights” — and compete in NHRL, NHRL-compatible, and independent events across the Midwest. The club is open to all majors; about 40% of members are Mechanical Engineering, 25% Electrical Engineering, 15% Computer Science, and the rest from Plastics, Fine Art, Business, and Psychology (the last two handle sponsorships, social media, and the cognitive-load studies we run during matches). We meet Tuesdays 7–9 p.m. in the Forge Makerspace (Founders Hall 140–150) for build sessions; sub-teams (drivetrain, weapon, electronics, armor, software) meet additionally on their own schedules.
Build teams and weight classes
Beetleweights (3 lb) are the entry point — lower cost ($300–$800), faster iteration, and the NHRL qualifier circuit runs monthly online. Ironclad fields 6–8 Beetleweights per season; each is designed, CAD’d, and fabricated by a 3-person sub-team. Featherweights (15 lb) are the flagship builds: two per year, $3,000–$5,000 budgets, 6-month cycles. The current Featherweights are Millwright’s Revenge (vertical spinner, AR500 armor, custom brushless motor) and River Rat (horizontal undercutter, titanium chassis, CO2 flipper). Both placed top-8 at NHRL 2025. Plastic Antweights (1 lb, 3-D printed) run as a low-stakes internal league during winter semester — great for first-years to learn CAD, slicing, and basic electronics without machining.
The Ironclad Invitational
The Ironclad Invitational (annual, first Saturday in April) is the largest collegiate combat robotics event in the Midwest: 60+ teams from 18 universities, double-elimination brackets for Beetleweight and Featherweight, plus a Plastic Antweight side event. The 2025 Invitational drew 400+ spectators to the Rec Center field house; the livestream peaked at 2,200 concurrent viewers. Ironclad members run the entire event: arena setup (two 8’x8’ polycarbonate arenas, one 12’x12’ for Featherweights), safety inspection, bracket software, livestream production, and the Ice-Cream Social after-party (sponsored by Mabel’s Bakery). The Invitational is the club’s primary fundraiser — sponsorships, ticket sales, and merch cover 80% of the next year’s build budgets.
Outreach and education
Ironclad Outreach runs three programs: Robot Rumble Jr. (monthly, 3rd-5th graders build and battle Plastic Antweights at the Porter County Community Center), Women in Robotics Workshop (quarterly, Saturday intensive for high-school girls, co-hosted with the Women in Engineering Scholarship program), and Shop Safety Certification (open to all students, required for Forge Makerspace CNC/mill access). The club also produces the Ironclad Build Log (YouTube, 12K subscribers) documenting each Featherweight build from CAD to competition — used as a teaching resource in ME 2100: Design & Manufacturing.
Shop access and training
Ironclad members get priority access to the Forge Makerspace CNC mills, manual lathes, TIG/MIG welders, and the waterjet cutter. Required training (free, run by club officers): Shop Safety (2 hrs), CNC Mill Basics (4 hrs, two sessions), TIG Welding for Thin Wall (3 hrs). Advanced training (optional, semester-long): 5-Axis CAM, Custom Motor Winding, Telemetry & Data Acquisition. The club maintains a parts library (motors, ESCs, receivers, batteries, hardware) funded by sponsorships — members check out parts for the season, return at the Invitational. The Forge Prototyping Lab sponsors two Featherweight builds per year in exchange for testing experimental materials (graphene-reinforced filament, 3-D-printed titanium lattice armor).
How to join
Show up to any Tuesday build session (Forge Makerspace, 7 p.m.) — no application, no dues for the first semester. After that, $25/semester covers shop consumables and a team tee. Leadership positions (Captain, Build Lead, Outreach Lead, Treasurer, Safety Officer) are elected each April; terms run May–April to align with the Invitational cycle. The club’s Discord (link on the Clubs page) is where day-to-day coordination happens: CAD reviews, parts orders, ride-shares to competitions, and the meme channel that keeps morale up during 3 a.m. machining sessions before a qualifier.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. The student organization, robots, competitions, and events described here are invented for this fictional university. No real organizations or competitions are depicted.