AVIRobotics
Menu
About fifty AVI Robotics members in front of the Lyles College of Engineering, fall 2026

AVIRobotics

Join the club Our story Projects & workshops
Scroll

Fresno State · Student-led · 501(c)(3)

The Valley of Artistic Ingenuity.

Fresno State students from every major who design, build and pilot robots, run hands-on projects, and bring engineering to the Central Valley. In our first year our MATE ROV company won a world-championship award.

Join the club About AVI
102/100 Engineering presentation score, an all-time Pioneer-class record
4th Highest overall score in the Pioneer class at Worlds
51 Students on the 2026 SMS roster
2 Competition robots built in year one: ROSIE and ADAM
SMS on stage receiving the Engineering Presentation Award in St. John's

June 2026 · St. John's, Newfoundland

A first-year team, on the world stage.

Sequoia Marine Solutions won the Engineering Presentation award at the MATE ROV World Championship, scoring 102 out of 100, an all-time record for the Pioneer class.

The 2026 season

What we do

Build things. Learn by doing. Give back.

AVI started with underwater robots, but it's here for any member who wants to make something real: robots, projects, workshops and outreach.

  • Robots and teams

    Our teams compete and build year-round. Sequoia Marine Solutions builds underwater robots for MATE ROV, and a Micromouse team is forming.

    Our teams

  • Blank Check Projects

    Four weeks, a small team and a theme: design and build an interactive display with moving parts, electronics and code. Blank check, because we're broke.

    How it works

  • Workshops

    Friday nights in EE 389: programming, electronics, CAD and design, taught by members who learned it the same way.

    The tracks

  • Outreach

    MESA events, runs, regional competitions and open houses. Robots are a great way to start a conversation about engineering.

    Where we've been

Projects & workshops

No experience? Good. Start here.

Friday workshops teach programming, electronics and CAD from zero. Then every fall, new members team up for a Blank Check Project: four weeks to build an interactive display that moves, lights up and runs code.

Projects & workshops
A Blank Check Project kit box
Members building circuits at a Blank Check Project session
A design-for-manufacturing workshop in the computer lab, fall 2026
ROSIE on the team table, thrusters and rotating claw visible
AVI and SMS members together at the 2026 MATE Monterey regional
Robert Voss with guests at the SMS tent at the Fresno State pool, June 4, 2026
Team members jumping into the pool after a successful water test
The AVI booth at Fresno State Traditions Day with ROSIE and the float
Team members in black SMS shirts carrying ADAM, the profiling float
AVI members with students at a MESA Saturday Academy outreach day
New members wiring their first circuits at a fall 2026 build workshop
AVI's Ars Vallis Ingenium booth lit up at night for the Phantom Bash, October 2026

Outreach

Out in the Valley.

We volunteer wherever students and families are learning about science and engineering: MESA events on campus, the Pi Day Run and the UHC Foundation Fun Run, and the MATE regional in Monterey, where our members judged and helped run the day.

  • Feb 7, 2026 · MESA volunteering
  • Mar 14, 2026 · Pi Day Run
  • Mar 28, 2026 · UHC Foundation Fun Run
  • Apr 11, 2026 · MESA volunteering
  • Apr 25, 2026 · MATE Monterey regional (judges and volunteers)
  • Oct 3, 2026 · MESA Saturday Academy
  • Nov 7, 2026 · MESA, with Sundog
Runners and families crowding the AVI table at the UHC Fun Run
AVI volunteers together at the Pi Day Run, March 14, 2026
A young visitor checks out an ROV at the UHC Fun Run
AVI volunteers together at the MATE Monterey regional
AVI volunteers goofing around after the February 2026 MESA event
Demonstrating a robot to runners at the Pi Day Run
AVI's table under the Lyles College of Engineering tent at the UHC Foundation Fun Run
AVI volunteers by the competition pool at the Monterey regional
AVI members with students at a MESA Saturday Academy outreach day
Kids gathered around the robots at the UHC Fun Run
AVI and Sundog volunteers lined up on campus after a MESA event, November 2026
Visitors at AVI's table at the Pi Day Run
AVI volunteers poolside at the MATE Monterey regional
AVI members in MESA volunteer shirts giving a thumbs up, April 2026
Students checking out ROSIE at the AVI Traditions Day booth
AVI volunteers and MESA students outside at the October 2026 Saturday Academy
Students crowding the AVI table and ROSIE at Traditions Day
Visitors at the AVI table at the UHC Fun Run, ROSIE prototype on display
Talking to students about ADAM, the profiling float, at Traditions Day
AVI volunteers posing together at the February 2026 MESA event at Fresno State
Guests and SMS members gathered around ROSIE under the tent at the June 4 pool test

Teams

Where the robots get built.

All teams
A team member lowers ROSIE into a pool during testing
MATE ROV · Explorer class

Sequoia Marine Solutions

Our underwater robotics company. Builders of ROSIE and ADAM.
Forming · 2026–27

Micromouse

Small autonomous robots that map and solve a maze as fast as they can. No name yet, no members yet. Want in? Tell us at a meeting

Shop

Wear the club.

All gear

2026 sponsors

They got us to Worlds.

All sponsors

Support · 501(c)(3) nonprofit

Help us get back in the water.

Sponsors and donors cover parts, pool time and travel to competition. AVI is a 501(c)(3), so gifts are tax-deductible. EIN 39-4775163.

Donate Become a sponsor Sponsorship packet (PDF)