Week 0 & Reminders for Week 1
February 24, 2026
As previously noted, FIRST® hosts a Week 0 event each season to put the field through a test event prior to the season. During the event this year, FIRST staff specifically spent extra time watching the Fuel Counters in the Hub live as well as dedicated video recording of the Hubs for each match to analyze frame by frame after the event.
FIRST staff were looking specifically for the following:
- Physical jam conditions of Fuel getting stuck in the Hub, anywhere from the funnel to the exit of the counter.
- Differences in counts between a post-event count of video recordings and the FMS (Field Management System) count from the event.
- Timing of the Fuel going through the system, from entering the funnel to the exit of the counter.
You can see the full details of the testing and results in this Fuel Counter Assessment. The good news is that we did not experience any jams and the timing of fuel entering and exiting is within our expected range. There were 5 instances (0.074% of Fuel scored) at Week 0 where Fuel bounced off of slower Fuel was counted twice in the Hub.
While the number of instances where it occurred was small, we want to ensure that Fuel is counted correctly during all matches. After evaluating possible options to resolve this issue, we have decided to remove the deflector plates from the Hub. You can see in the video below how the Fuel will spread on the field with this change in place.
The original purpose of the deflectors were to increase the width of dispersion in the Neutral Zone to: (1) prevent teams from catching the Fuel and (2) to create a more dynamic game. After seeing how Fuel interacts with Robots and other Fuel during live matches, we think that benefit of removing the small likelihood of a double count is worth the tradeoff of a slight change in the dispersion pattern. Between these tests and watching the Week 0 match videos, FIRST staff feel confident that removing the deflector plates will be a minimal change to the match experience for teams, while ensuring the counters are giving accurate results.