In 1983, National Power Chair began rebuilding motors for retail dealers selling electric wheelchairs. Back then, there were 3 different motors offered on all of the models of electric wheelchairs chairs sold in America.

In 1984, National Power Chair began catalog sales of rebuilt motors and motor and gearbox parts. Over the years, electric wheelchair manufacturers demanded that motor manufacturers come up with new designs that were less expensive, stronger, and lighter. As a result, within 20 years there were over 100 different motor models available. Throughout that time, we kept up with these changes in the industry through a growing dealer network and an ever-increasing catalog of new and rebuilt motors, parts and accessories. In 1996, our website www.npcinc.com was launched to showcase the company and take advantage of the new craze, e-commerce. At the peak of business we sold new and rebuilt motors, gearboxes, batteries and battery chargers to over 1,800 wheelchair repair shops and numerous individuals nationwide. Rebuilt motor sales hit its peak in 2001 when we sold out of rebuildable/rebuilt motors and gearboxes.

In 1997, National Power Chair sold a pair of motors to robot builder Patrick Campbell, he spread the word about our supply of motors to Don Hutson and Christian Carlberg. With their help and the magic of the internet, word spread to hundreds of robot builders throughout the country. In early 2001, NPC Robotics, Inc. (NPC) was born, shortly thereafter this website was launched, in order to better serve the specific needs of these robot enthusiasts. In a few short years NPC motors became the de facto standard within the robot building community, having gained a reputation for being “bullet-proof”. At robotic events around the world, like BattleBots, BattleBots IQ, Robot Wars and RFL (Robot Fighting League) robots could be seen with NPC logo stickers attached, testifying to the widespread use of NPC motors (and other components).

In 2004, after visiting this website, NPC Robotics was contacted by a team of engineers from U.S. Army TARDEC (Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center) led by John Schmitz and Bob Washburn. It was their mission to motorize the manual traversing unit, which rotated the gun turret on Humvees (at that time), and do it cost-effectively by using commercially available components. NPC engineering staff worked closely with TARDEC to ensure that they accomplished their mission, resulting in a patent (filed in May 2005) being issued in April 2006 for the invention. In 2006, NPC began supplying the motors (and some of the other components) used to perform this retrofit. In 2007 this “kit” was recognized by the US Army as one of its 10 Greatest Inventions.

Today, the NPC Robotics inventory is made up of many newly manufactured products. While most of these products were initially designed with the battling robot builder in mind they are currently used in an ever growing variety of diverse applications and industries. These include military vehicles, film and stage special effects, industrial power assist applications, surveillance robotics and many others. Our 25+ years’ experience in designing and engineering “bullet-proof” components (motors, speed controllers, gearboxes, hydraulic parts and systems, batteries, chargers and accessories) enables us to bring you (whether you build robots or not) the most powerful and durable components available anywhere.

If there is anything you need, or want us to add to our line, please email your request to info@npcrobotics.com.