FIRST Robotics Competition Blog

We are so excited for CRESCENDO^SM presented by Haas, but before we get there, we have off-season events to attend, game details to finalize, and an exciting announcement to make!

The FIRST^® Robotics Competition Kit of Parts for has evolved to meet the changing needs of our teams. These changes have included rolling out FIRST^® Choice, Product Vouchers, and the ability to opt-out of both the Drive Base and the Black Tote.

We use feedback from our Partners, talking with teams at events, and each season’s Kit of Parts survey to help guide the changes made for future seasons.  

You can continue to help us make improvements to the kit of parts by filling out this year’s Kit of Parts survey! The survey takes about 20 minutes to complete, and if you include your team number, your team is eligible for a chance to win your choice of goodies. We ask that no more than one student and one mentor from each team fill it out. You must be at least 13 years old, and it closes on Friday, May 25, 2023 at noon (Eastern Time).

One of the most requested additions to the Kit of Parts, from both Partners and teams, is the Everybot.

(For those who don’t know, Team 118 started the Everybot in 2014 with a goal of being an “affordable, competitive, and elegant robot intended to play the FIRST Robotics Competition challenge. Everybot can be built with nothing but basic tools and items found in either the kit of parts or purchased from your local hardware store or online [FIRST Robotics Competition] retailers.”)

Some of the folks that create each year’s Everybot also work with Team 118 and did not want the advanced knowledge of the game that would be required to put materials to build an Everybot in the KOP. As an alternative, we worked with a member of the community to design a base robot specific to CRESCENDO that will be included in the 2024 Kit of Parts.

This robot will be a guided build and will be able to accomplish some of the basic game challenges. It is not intended to be a “bolt together” solution, and it will still require some manufacturing by the team.

The team may need to purchase some materials (e.g. raw stock and fasteners) from a local hardware store. Harder to source items (i.e. parts that are only available from a few specific suppliers) will be included in the Kickoff Kit. Veteran teams will need to reuse some electronic components. Rookies will receive what they need in the Gray Tote.

We’re still working on the support resources that will be available to help teams through the build and programming process. We also know that the capabilities of this robot could drive a team’s decision about opting out of the Black Tote. We’ll share more information on the relative capabilities of the robot later this summer.

We want to extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to Team 118 for pioneering this resource for teams. Our hope is that Team 118 (and all those creating resources for teams) continues their work in 2024 and beyond. The robot in the Kit of Parts is designed such that functionality to accomplish more of the game challenges can be added without having to start over on the robot design.

Just like the goal of the Everybot, our desire is that adding a base robot to the Kit of Parts makes FIRST Robotics Competition a more affordable, accessible, sustainable, and scalable program.