We’re blogging today to announce the go-live date for pre-Kickoff Virtual Kit items. Items are included as part of the Kit of Parts system and are available to all registered and secured 2016 FIRST Robotics Competition teams. They consist of software licenses/downloads and Product Donation Vouchers (aka “PDVs” or “vouchers”) and will be posted to the Virtual Kit of Parts site tomorrow, December 10, 2015 (noon Eastern).

Vouchers can be redeemed for specific items or a selection of items up to a specific dollar amount (teams pay for shipping), but refer to the Virtual Kit site for details on how to pursue these helpful donations.

• Altium: Designer, a PCB design and development tool
• American Button Machines: membership to Build-a-Button, button design software
• AndyMark: voucher redeemable for $450 (USD) worth of AndyMark items (available to teams who opted out of the KOP Drive System)
• AutomationDirect.com: voucher redeemable for $30 (USD) worth of AutomationDirect.com items
• Autodesk: software suite including CAD, simulation, and modeling plus a CAD library of the FIRST STRONGHOLD field and 2016 Kickoff Kit items available at Kickoff
• CTR Electronics and Innovation First International: voucher redeemable for 2 Talon SRXes (14-838288 or 217-8080) or 3 Victor SPs (14-868380 or 217-9090)
• DigiKey: voucher redeemable for $50 (USD) worth of DigiKey items
• GitHub: Silver Level account with access to software development tools
• Inventables: voucher redeemable for $40 (USD) worth of Inventables items
• National Instruments: Multisim, Ultiboard, & the NI Developer Statechart Option, integrated circuit simulation, printed circuit board (PCB) prototyping, and a LabVIEW add-on for designing applications using states, transitions, and events
• Next Gen: voucher redeemable for a CIM cooler
• PTC: software suite including CAD, simulation, and modeling plus a CAD library of the FIRST STRONGHOLD field and 2016 Kickoff Kit items available at Kickoff
• SolidProfessor: Online CAD Training Software
• Solidworks: software suite including CAD, simulation, and modeling plus a CAD library of the FIRST STRONGHOLD field and 2016 Kickoff Kit items available at Kickoff
• Tableau: license for data analysis and visualization software
• TE Connectivity: voucher redeemable for $25 (USD) worth of select TE Connectivity products
• Wolfram: license for Mathematica and System Modeler, computing and system simulation software

There will be additional items added to the Virtual Kit on Kickoff, so make sure to comb through the paper in the Kickoff Kits and check back to the Virtual Kit site then.

Our thanks to all of our Suppliers who make the Kit of Parts happen each year!