Spark Motors

LEGO Donation Drive

I.G.N.I.T.E

I.G.N.I.T.E, Inspiring Global Next-generation Innovators Through Engineering. Ignite is an ongoing program where we provide materials to foundations and teams globally and locally. Ignite hopes to improve education globally as well as provide materials at a fraction of the cost. One of our most recent projects was a large donation supported by Apple to the Future Builders Foundation, an international organization that focuses on STEM education for orphans.

Currently, we are redistributing robotics materials that retired teams no longer find nessecary to teams that need them. Some of these include LEGO robotics hubs and components that new robotics teams are searching for. We focus on distributing these materials to those in need and aim to provide our support in their engineering journey.

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FTC Team

Spark Motors

FTC Team · Spark Motors

Spark Motors

Our team consists of eight members. We have two divers, one driver coach, and a human play on the drive team. We also have the outreach team, hardware team, and software team. Our team divides tasks evenly among teammates in order to complete them efficiently and ensure everyone gets to play a part. Our team captain, Kevin, specializes in software, and developed our turret tracking algorithm this season.

ftcsparkmotors@gmail.com

YouTube: @SparkMotors-ftc

Achievements

NorCal Regionals 2026

Qualifier

This was our first regional competition in FTC. Although we didn't perform the best, we definetly learned a couple lessons on what not to do next time.

Saratoga Qualifier

Semifinalist & 3rd Place in Qualifications

This was our first ever FTC competition. Here we beat the odd's and were the third alliance captain as well as a tournament semi-finalist.

Folsom Qualifier #2

3rd Alliance Captain & Think Award, 2nd Place

This was the tournament that got us to regionals. Once again, we were third alliance captain, but we didn't get very far into playoffs. Here we also won the Think Award 2nd place.

$2,500+

Funds Raised

400+

Volunteer Hours

21K+

YouTube Views

65+

Hours Watch Time

This Season's Robot

Meet our DECODE™ robot

This year's robot design revolved around fast cycles. for our intake, we have custom molded silicone flex wheels and bootkickers as well as gobilda gecko wheels that spin at 1500 rpm on a compliant intake. Our transfer mechanism is chained to the intake and consists of 4 silicone tubing bootkickers that all run off 1 motor. Our drivebase runs off 312 rpm gobilda motors and mecanum wheels in order to probide holonomic movement to the robot. Our turret consists of two gobilda 6000 rpm motors, 72mm rhino wheels, and steel flywheels in order to maximize throughput and efficiency.

Robot In Action

Watch it run

Watch our robot's intake, turret, and drivebase in action.

Behind The Build

Engineering Process

How we design, build, and iterate on our robot each season.

Our Process

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Leadership

Coach & Mentors

The coach and volunteer industry professionals who guide Spark Motors.

Founder & Head Coach

Steven Zhang

Owner, Spark Motors

Steven Zhang is the founder and owner of Spark Motors, and the head coach behind both the Spark Motors and RoboSpark teams. As a seasoned FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge coach, Steven has guided teams through years of competition, helping them qualify for and compete at national and world-level events.

In addition to leading Spark Motors, Steven coaches Kuriosity Robotics, a team that has qualified for the FIRST World Championship multiple times. His coaching philosophy centers on hands-on engineering, strong team culture, and preparing students for both the technical and professional sides of robotics competition.

Professional Mentor

Jun He

Principal AI Engineer, Tumeke Ergonomics

Jun He is a Principal AI Engineer at Tumeke Ergonomics who volunteers his time to mentor Spark Motors on the software side of competition. Jun works closely with our programming subteam on Java-based autonomous routines, helping students design, debug, and refine the code that drives our robots during autonomous.

His background in applied AI engineering gives our students exposure to real-world software practices that extend well beyond the robotics field.

Professional Mentor

Feihui Li

Senior Manager, NVIDIA

Feihui Li is a Senior Manager at NVIDIA who supports Spark Motors with presentation and communication coaching, refining how students talk about their engineering process, teamwork, and outreach in front of judges.

She also runs mock interview sessions with our members, helping students build confidence and clarity — preparation that pays off both at competition and beyond.

Professional Mentor

Qing Xie

Tech Lead Manager, Google

Qing Xie is a Tech Lead Manager at Google who advises Spark Motors on project management — setting milestones, balancing build, code, and outreach priorities, and keeping the team aligned as deadlines approach.

Drawing on experience leading engineering teams at Google, Qing brings a practical, industry-grade approach to how our students plan and execute their season.

Outreach & Connections

Outreach is an essential part of any FTC team. It expresses their impact on their community and the teams growth throughout the season. Here are some events that we have hosted.

Connecting with other teams in your local or global community is a great way to learn from other people's past mistakes and experiences. Here are some teams we recognize.

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14

Team Members

36

Teams Connected With

2,000+

People Reached

2025

Founded

Workshop

Apple Reliability Lab

Hosted an Apple reliability lab together with FTC team JavaJuice, teaching design-for-reliability principles that help robots hold up through a full season of competition.

Mentor Team

Kuriosity Robotics

Our 14 team members are mentored by Kuriosity Robotics, a multi-time FIRST World Championship qualifying team, also coached by Steven Zhang.

Partnership

Future Builders Foundation

Partnered with the Future Builders Foundation to support orphans globally, extending our outreach efforts beyond the robotics community.

International

3andiblasti (Morocco)

Fundraised in support of Moroccan FIRST team 3andiblasti, extending our connections beyond the local robotics community.

Scrimmage

IJAVVE FTC Scrimmage

Attended the IJAVVE FTC scrimmage to test our robots, practice driving and strategy, and connect with other teams ahead of the competition season.

Team Coaching

Team Novatard

Coached team Novatard on their engineering portfolio, mechanisms, and other core skills needed to compete confidently at events.

Education

Summer Camps

Taught over 150 students at summer camps covering FLL and FTC fundamentals, introducing the next generation of students to robotics and engineering.

FRC

FRC Team Matrix

Fundraised in support of FRC team Matrix, building connections across the wider FIRST robotics community beyond just FTC.

Recognition

Recognized by the Santa Clara Mayor

Recognized by the Santa Clara City Mayor at a robotics meet-up hosted at Central Park Library, celebrating our team's contributions to the local community.

FLL

FLL Team Cybersharks

Mentored FLL team Cybersharks throughout their season, helping introduce younger students to robotics ahead of their transition to FTC.

FLL Support

FLL Scrimmages

Hosted FLL scrimmages for both the SUBMERGED and UNEARTHED seasons, giving younger FLL teams a chance to practice before their tournaments.

FTC

JavaJuice

Co-hosted an Apple reliability lab with FTC team JavaJuice, sharing design-for-reliability practices between our two teams.

Media

YouTube Channel

Our YouTube channels share build updates, competition highlights, and behind-the-scenes content, reaching over 21,000 views and 65 hours of watch time.

Spark Motors: @SparkMotors-ftc →
RoboSpark: @RoboSparkFTC →

2025–2026 Season

This Year's Game

FIRST Tech Challenge

DECODE™

Presented by RTX, DECODE™ pits two opposing alliances of two teams each against one another on a shared playing field, scoring point-generating ball artifacts into alliance goals.

Robots shoot or place artifacts through a classifier square, where they roll down ramps to create color patterns matching a randomized match motif — or overflow back onto the field to keep the action going.

Alliances maximize their score by managing active field gates, optimizing rapid intake-and-launch cycles, and executing precise autonomous routines and endgame base parks.

Follow Along

Social Media

Follow Spark Motors for build updates, competition highlights, and behind-the-scenes content.

Support Us

Support Spark Motors

Every contribution helps fund parts, entry fees, and travel for our season.

Why donate?

FTC is an expensive competition that, although encourages students to think as engineers and help the community around them, requires resources to function. We ask that you support us and enable us to keep doing what we do best, inspiring the next generation of engineers and impacting our community.

Thank You