2026 Robot Rules Preview

As teams work to get registered for events and prepared for the season, it is once again time to share a sneak peak at some changes coming to the 2026 FIRST^® Robotics Competition Robot Rules that we think may affect your purchasing decisions as you stock up on parts. As always, remember these are not the only changes that will be made to the rules, make sure to read the Game Manual and Team Update 0 closely at Kickoff (posted on the Season Materials page) to ensure you don’t miss anything important.

Bumper Materials

Feedback from both teams and inspectors regarding the changes to the 2025 bumper rules was very positive. We heard that teams were more consistently arriving at events with legal bumpers and that the bumpers appeared to be more effective at protecting robots and more durable across the season. While we recognize that the nature of the 2025 game may have led to fewer and less energetic collisions, we are hopeful teams will continue to see improved bumper durability and performance in future seasons. We do expect to make some minor adjustments to the bumper rules this season based on lessons learned, so we recommend teams don’t try to get too far ahead and construct bumpers for the 2026 season before the Game Manual is released at Kickoff.

In the meantime, we can share the changes we are making to permitted materials for bumper padding so that teams can stock up on material. The list of permitted padding material for 2026 is:

Padding – A minimum of 2 ¼ in. (~58 mm) depth of foam padding, at least 4 ½ in. (~114 mm) tall consisting of solid blocks, sheets, or stacked rods of one or more of the following materials:
1. Solid pool noodles or backer rod
2. Solid polyethylene closed cell foam (including crosslinked) with density between 1.5 and 3 lb./ft.³ (~24 to 48 kg/m³)
3. Solid EVA closed cell foam with density between 2 and 6 lb./ft.³ (~32 to 96 kg/m³)
4. Foam floor tiles

This list contains one addition and one subtraction compared to 2025. The additional material is specifying that crosslinked polyethlene foam is allowed at the same densities as regular closed cell polyethylene. While the crosslinked material is generally a little stiffer at any given density, the increased robustness makes it a great material for bumpers and the properties are close enough to not want to add extra confusion by having a different permitted density range. This matches the way this material was handled (via Q&A) in the 2025 season. The removed material is hollow pool noodles. The testing we did as part of the bumper rules group last year showed that hollow noodles are much less performant as a bumper material. Given the nature of the 2025 game, we chose to continue permitting hollow noodles as a transition year to give us time to see how things worked out with some of the other new materials. We believe that foam tiles, which are locally available year-round, provide a better solution for bumpers and as such hollow pool noodles have been removed for the 2026 season.

Removing Devices

As previously mentioned, we are developing a set of formal criteria for removing older devices. While the criteria is not complete yet, we are removing the following devices as they showed very low usage during the 2025 season. These devices will be removed from the permitted list for 2026:

Nidec Dynamo BLDC
DMC60 motor controllers
Jaguar motor controllers
SD540 motor controllers
Victor 884 and Victor 888 motor controllers

Redux Robotics Nitrate and Cu60

We previously shared information about the Redux Robotics Nitrate motor controller and Cu60 motor. Unfortunately, Redux Robotics has informed us that they plan to wind down operations, including the cancellation of these products. More information can be found in this statement from Redux.

New Devices

AndyMark Power Distribution Board

The AMPD is a 12V, 120A continuous power distribution board built for FIRST Robotics Competition robots. It features 24 fully insulated 40A ports that work with ATO/ATC breakers. With toolless lever connectors, 22.5 degree angled outputs for clean wiring, and easy mounting on a 1/2in hole grid, it’s designed to make robot wiring simpler and neater.

You can find full specs, ordering availability, and more on the AndyMark product page.

CTR Electronics Power Distribution Panel Breakers

The Power Distribution Panel Breaker from CTR Electronics is a cost-effective, auto-reset circuit breaker for high-performance robotics applications. Available in 10A, 20A, 30A, and 40A, the breakers protect circuits from overcurrent, maintaining safe and reliable operation of connected components. The ATO-size design automatically resets after a trip and maintains consistent performance through repeated use. More information is available on the CTR Electronics product page.

ReFire Solutions Quick Connect

ReFire Solutions has been working on minor updates to the existing ReFire Quick Connect for Kraken x60 motors as well as a Quick Connect for Kraken x44 motors. These devices allow teams to adapt the motor terminals to alternative connector types as well as supporting tapping power for low power devices such as sensors. ReFire Solutions has also been developing a device for tapping power on non-Kraken motors; while additional details on this device are not available at this time, the development has been coordinated with FIRST and if such a device is released before the season it will be included in the Game Manual. More information will be available on the ReFire Solutions website soon.

REV Robotics NEO 2.0

The REV Robotics NEO 2.0 Brushless Motor is the next evolution of the original NEO with features designed to improve reliability and ease of use. Key features include a replaceable sensor cable, a reduced mounting footprint, improved sensor location for thermal resilience, and a 15T spline motor shaft. More information can be found on the REV Robotics product page.

The Thrifty Bot Pulsar 775

The Pulsar 775 from Thrifty Bot is a medium-sized motor that perfectly pairs with the Thrifty Nova, aimed at providing teams with a great standalone option for their mechanisms. With both 775 mounting options and a 1.375in 10-32 bolt circle, mounting is a breeze, and the SplineXS shaft makes it easy to interface on your robot. More information can be found on the Thrifty Bot website.

Vivid Hosting VH-109 V1.5

Vivid Hosting has released a v1.5 of the VH-109 radio to address two issues identified during the 2025 FIRST Robotics Competition season. VH-109 v1.5 radios have improved safeguards against spurious voltage events caused by back-driving motors, and prevent power provided to the 12V Weidmuller port from flowing back into the roboRIO Ethernet port. Teams will be able to use both the v1 and v1.5 radios during the 2026 FIRST Robotics Competition season. All radios provided in the 2026 Kit of Parts and FIRST Choice will be v1.5 and Vivid Hosting will also be offering an upgrade kit for teams to modify v1 radios themselves. More information can be found in Vivid Hosting’s product announcement.