01 / MECHANICAL
Mechanical & Hardware
Chassis design, rapid fabrication, actuator integration and durability testing.
§ STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP · 2026-2027
Partner with Spartan Autonomous Robotics.
A simulation-first robotics design team at MSU. Through Project Wonder we are building an autonomous robot platform for search and rescue in unstructured terrain. We are looking for partners to support the 2026-2027 development cycle.
Sim-firstValidated before hardware
4Technical tracks
OpenDocumented on GitHub
MSUCollege of Engineering
§ 01 · WHO WE ARE
A student-led, faculty-advised engineering lab.
Advised by Dr. Xiaobo Tan, MSU Foundation Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. SAR is accountable, documented and deliverable-driven. Every member completes a structured onboarding before contributing to a build. The team works across four technical tracks.
02 / EMBEDDED
Embedded Systems & Controls
ESP32-S3 firmware, precise motor control, and real-time 50-100 Hz control loops.
03 / PERCEPTION
Perception & Navigation
Intel RealSense D435i depth, LiDAR-based SLAM, and GPS-denied autonomy.
04 / AI-ML
AI/ML & Locomotion
Isaac Lab reinforcement learning, sim-to-real transfer, and gait optimization.
§ 02 · WHAT WE BUILD
Project Wonder.
Our program building an autonomous robot platform for search and rescue in unstructured terrain. It is in active development.
PLATFORM
Built for hard ground
Project Wonder is aimed at moving through the unstructured terrain where search and rescue actually happens. The build is documented publicly on GitHub.
METHOD
Simulation first
Every behaviour is validated in simulation before it is trusted to hardware, so the expensive mistakes happen where they are cheap to fix.
§ 03 · WHY PARTNER
Why partner with us.
01 / TEAM
Get to know the team
Members work hands-on across mechanical, electrical and software. Partners get to know a motivated student team early, before graduation.
02 / OPEN
Open-source record
Our build is documented publicly on GitHub. Support the hardware or software and it becomes part of a record other students and makers can learn from.
03 / REPORT
Honest reporting
Partners receive a year-end summary of what the team did with their support: what we built, where we showed it, and how it was received.
§ 04 · SPONSORSHIP TIERS
Four tiers. In-kind counts.
In-kind contributions, hardware, software licenses, fabrication services, are recognized at retail price and credited toward the equivalent cash tier. A sponsored depth camera, compute module or license can be as impactful as a direct cash gift.
Platinum
$10,000+The Advisory Partner
- Industry advisory seat, invitation to semesterly design reviews
- VIP recruiting, host an exclusive “Tech Talk” for SAR members
- Early resume-book access, team resumes 30 days before public release
- Custom R&D integration, optional integration of your dataset or research challenge
Gold
$5,000+The Innovation Partner
- Resume-book access, curated PDF of all team members on request
- Sub-team branding, “Powered by [Company]” on a designated sub-system
- VIP Demo Day invitation with reserved seating
Silver
$2,500+The Talent Partner
- Prime logo placement on event banners and all team apparel
- Sponsor spotlight, dedicated feature post on SAR LinkedIn & Instagram
- Year-end impact report, outcomes and media reach
Bronze
$1,000+The Foundation Partner
- Digital recognition, name and logo on the msusar.org supporters page
- Social-media mention, official announcement across SAR channels
- Year-end impact report, annual summary of outcomes and reach
§ 05 · WHAT YOUR SUPPORT FUNDS
What we actually need.
Support goes straight into building and fielding the robots, the hardware and the people who run it, not overhead.
BUILD
Hardware & prototyping
Sensors, compute, PCBs and fabrication for the Project Wonder platform.
TEST
Field testing & operations
Getting the robot onto real ground, plus the logistics and lab infrastructure that takes.
GROW
Outreach & training
Onboarding hardware, workshop materials, and STEM outreach that grows the pipeline.
Prefer to give in kind? Hardware, software licenses and fabrication services are exactly what we can put to work immediately, credited toward the equivalent tier above.
Let's talk.
We welcome conversations at any tier, including multi-year structures and in-kind hardware or software support. We respond to sponsorship inquiries within 48 business hours, and can arrange a live demonstration of the platform for serious partners.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Xiaobo Tan · xbtan@egr.msu.edu · Michigan State University, College of Engineering, East Lansing, MI 48824