2025 KitBot Shopping List
December 9, 2024
We’ve now had two years of KitBot, and we wanted to take some time to do a recap of the 2025 season and share the future direction of the 2026 KitBot (including reminders on some upcoming important dates!)
2025 Recap
To start, let’s look at how things went in 2025. We were very happy with the 2025 KitBot and believe that we made several improvements from the first year. For 2025, we designed the robot while designing the field which meant we were able to make necessary adjustments for a more reliable robot. We also had more time to source components and were able to include more components in the Black Tote resulting in fewer items that teams had to source. Huge shoutout to the suppliers who helped make that happen!
In looking at survey data, we had approximately 22% of teams indicate that they built a KitBot with 10% of those teams indicating that they used KitBot at a competition. The teams who indicated that they did not use KitBot at an event, but still built it, shared that they used it for training students and mentors, for practice on the field, or to see how KitBot worked. We also asked teams if they iterated on the robot and ~48% of both mentors and students reported they did improve or increase robot functionality.
Additionally, we provided starter code in LabView, Python, C++, and Java for teams using KitBot. This past season we added usage reporting so we could see how many teams used it. This data shows us how many teams used the provided code at an official event. We saw that 118 teams used it, with ~95% of teams using the Java code. Looking deeper at the usage data, we were also able to see what teams added; 34% of teams added at least 1 motor, and 20% of teams added at least 1 camera.
2026 Season
Now looking to the 2026 season, we wanted to share some updates and reminders.
2026 KitBot code will only be provided in Java due to the usage data showing minimal usage of the code provided in other languages. Another change we are making this year is that we are not planning to release a shopping list prior to Kickoff for items included in the Black Tote. We will still release a shopping list for items that need to be sourced separately. This means that if your team wants to build KitBot on Kickoff, we recommend that you do not opt out of the Black Tote or the Drive Base Kit.
Finally, we want to remind teams that the Opt-Out deadline for the Black Tote & Drive Base is coming up (decisions due by September 23rd at 12pm ET). Veteran teams can choose to opt out of either (or both) the Black Tote & Drive Base Kit in exchange for vouchers to AndyMark and Rev Robotics.
Important note: Only veteran teams can opt out of the Drive Base/Black Tote. The default condition is for the Drive Base and Black Tote to ship with each Kickoff Kit, so if you’re a veteran team that wants these items, there’s nothing for you to do. If you want the vouchers instead, you must take this action by the deadline.