Downingtown Area Robotics (DAR) is an all volunteer organization that teaches hands-on STEM skills, marketing, teamwork and leadership through competitive FIRST robotics.  

Based in Downingtown Pennsylvania, DAR is a group of students, mentors and sponsors, who understand the importance of getting students enthusiastic about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) based careers. We do this through competition robotics. Our robots work in alliances of two or three, working together as team towards a common goal (we are not the robots that try to destroy each other). Driving the robots in competitions is a small part of what we do. From the beginning we teach each roboteer valuable life skills like communications, planning, getting a group consensus, cooperation and negotiations. We also bring to life STEM skills in areas of computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), electronics, mechanics, pneumatics, and software engienering by planning, designing, building (and sometimes rebuilding), testing and driving our robots.

In addition to hands-on STEM skills many of the DAR teams have full marketing and communication staffs.  Students who are not excited by STEM skills manage our websites, social media feeds, create marketing plans and manage our internal and external communications.  

Downingtown Area Robotics programs accepts students without regard to race, religion, gender, ethnic background or sexual orientation. Violence, intoxication or harassment are not tolerated.