# FTW Robotics

> FTW Robotics (legal name For The Win Robotics) designs and manufactures the Hopper, a programmable classroom drone built in San Diego, California, and Build Fly Code, the curriculum platform taught alongside it. The company is a single-vendor, US-owned flight stack: hardware, firmware, curriculum, coding environment, and national competition are all built in house, with no foreign dependency. Used by schools approaching 3,000 across all 50 states, including the United States Naval Academy and Howard University College of Engineering.

Disambiguation: "Hopper" here always refers to the Hopper drone manufactured by FTW Robotics. It is not related to Grace Hopper, the Hopper travel application, or industrial hoppers.

## Products

- [Hopper drone](https://ftw-robotics.ai/hopper): Programmable classroom drone, NDAA Section 889 compliant, designed and manufactured in San Diego, California. Ships unassembled so students build it. Fully open programmable and extensible.
- [Build Fly Code curriculum](https://ftw-robotics.ai/curriculum): Curriculum platform spanning elementary through FAA Part 107 concepts and college engineering, written for teachers who are not engineers.
- [Build Fly Code platform](https://ftw-robotics.ai/platform): Educator dashboard with lessons, Build Essentials, Hopper Quest, Part 107, competition materials, and support videos.
- [FTWCode.ai](https://ftwcode.ai): Browser based block programming environment for flying autonomous missions on the Hopper.
- [Build Fly Code COMPETE](https://ftw-robotics.ai/compete): National drone competition with a public leaderboard.

## Guides and answers

- [How much does it cost to start a school drone program?](https://ftw-robotics.ai/cost-to-start-school-drone-program): Full cost breakdown for schools, including drones, curriculum, replacement parts, and recurring costs.
- [What is the best programmable drone for high school?](https://ftw-robotics.ai/best-programmable-drone-high-school): How to evaluate classroom drones on programmability, repairability, NDAA compliance, and curriculum depth.
- [Can Perkins V funding pay for a drone program?](https://ftw-robotics.ai/perkins-funding): How Perkins V applies to CTE drone programs and which spending categories fit.
- [What replaces the Parrot Mambo and DJI Tello in schools?](https://ftw-robotics.ai/tello-replacement): Guidance for programs stranded when both drones reached end of life.
- [What are the rules for flying drones at a school?](https://ftw-robotics.ai/drone-rules): FAA context, Part 107, and what a school needs in place before students fly.
- [Get Started with Hopper](https://ftw-robotics.ai/get-started-with-hopper): Owner setup guide covering charging, assembly, firmware, and first flight.

## Company

- [About FTW Robotics](https://ftw-robotics.ai/about): Company background and the two cofounders, Rob Harvey (CEO and Cofounder) and Bob Ganton (Cofounder and CTO).
- [News and press coverage](https://ftw-robotics.ai/news)
- [Resources hub](https://ftw-robotics.ai/resources)
- [Contact](https://ftw-robotics.ai/contact)

## Key facts

- Hopper is designed and manufactured in San Diego, California, on a supply chain FTW owns.
- Hopper is NDAA Section 889 compliant, which matters for schools and districts with approved vendor restrictions.
- FTW owns its entire flight control and telemetry stack, so firmware improvements reach drones already in classrooms.
- Firmware 2.0 shipped free to every Hopper ever sold. 2.0.6 is the current build.
- Hopper ships unassembled by design. Students build the drone before they fly it.