Products & Business
Super Servo
The product that started Melonbotics, then evolved into a mature, tested solution.
Overview
A hardware product that moved from a first exposed-PCB release into a more robust, manufacturable robotics part.
Mid 2023: V1 started Melonbotics
Super Servo V1 was the idea that started Melonbotics. During my gap year, before starting university, I thought a small, light, high-speed continuous rotation motor with an integrated controller would be valuable for FTC robots, so I taught myself PCB design from YouTube, made the board, and made the leap from Arduino to Atmel Studio for embedded firmware in early-mid 2023, when AI was not especially useful for embedded MCU code.
- V1 became my first product and the launch point for Melonbotics
- Designed the PCB and wrote the embedded controller firmware after teaching myself the toolchain
- Launched the website and made the first sales from the initial product release
- Used the product later that year with FTC team 11148 Barker Greybacks, who I mentor
- Barker Greybacks won the 2023 FTC National Championship, powered by my product
Mid 2024: Super Servo Plus
Super Servo Plus was the next step: turning the exposed-board idea into a proper product.
- Enclosed the PCB, added board underfill, and improved cable strain relief
- Improved component selection and PCB thermal treatment for more sustained power
- Designed a mounting plate to solve team attachment issues with common FTC build systems
- Learned CAM and used thread milling to manufacture the mounting plates in bulk
- Moved production programming from SOIC-8 test clips to pogo pins
Super Servo Plus in action
In late 2024, students I was mentoring used the updated Super Servo Plus as early adopters on their competition robot, including as part of an intake mechanism. It gave the product a real robot subsystem test after the enclosure and manufacturing improvements.
- Supported a mentored student team using Super Servo Plus on their robot
- Validated the enclosed product in a more demanding intake subsystem context
2025: panelisation and production quality of life
As sales volumes were growing in 2025, the next revision focused on making production less painful: panelising the board and cleaning up the PCB for higher-volume assembly.
- Moved from single-board handling to a panelised PCB workflow
- Improved manufacturing quality of life for assembly, programming, and handling
- Revised the PCB layout for the R3 production run
