In just a few short weeks, we will have 600 FIRST® Robotics Competition teams gathering for the FIRST® Championship presented by BAE.
As a reminder, we have gathered the most important information on our FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Team Information webpage. This page includes floor plans, the public schedule, and more! This webpage will continue to be updated closer to the event with division assignments, pit assignments, and more as information is finalized.
Schedule Updates
The Public Agenda has been updated. We have adjusted the start time for qualification matches to begin at 8:00 AM on Thursday and have extended pits until 6:45 PM for both Thursday and Friday. We don’t expect any major changes at this point, but this document will be updated if there are any last-minute changes.
The perimeter of the screening area is expanded this year to include parts of Discovery Green and Avenidas de las Americas. Security entrances will all be located at these outdoor perimeters, along with the previous GRB/Hotel walkway entrances. There will be metal detection screening at all event entrances.
Teams should plan for waiting in lines entering the venue. Just like a concert or show, we highly recommend that teams show up 10-15 minutes prior to wanting to enter the venue to ensure they have time to go through security and get to where they want to be.
On-Site Registration
All teams must register their team members within the ConferenceDirect system by the deadline listed in their email. Teams will also receive a confirmation email so they can verify all of the badges for their team and make any corrections before they are pre-printed. Teams that have entered their badges by 11:59 PM ET on April 26th will have the badges pre-printed. Any changes made after April 26th may not be pre-printed so please be sure to have them all in by April 26th! Teams who do not meet the deadline will need to go to the main registration desk in the lobby on the first floor to have badges printed on site. You read that right - we are pre-printing team’s name badges to help expedite check in.
Teams with pre-printed badges may pick them up Tuesday at the Central Registration Desk in the lobby (open until 6:00 PM). Badges can also be picked up Wednesday at the Team Check-In Desk in Hall C. All teams must check in at the Team Check-In Desk in Hall C on Wednesday (7:00 AM–6:00 PM) to receive their team registration packet, regardless of whether badges were picked up on Tuesday.
Between 7:00 AM & 8:00 AM, teams can access the Team Check In Desk by going into the doors to the left of the main registration area, as shown below (when looking at the desk – see image below). A staff member will be located at this door to help answer questions and allow 1-2 mentors in only. Once the doors open at 8:00 AM, Lead Coaches will be able to visit the Team Check In Desk by using any of the entrances into the FIRST Robotics Competition area.
Team Load In Reminders
Beginning at 8:00 AM, teams will be allowed into the pits, but remember the pits are not officially open and teams should only have 6 members in the pit until 12pm. We encourage teams to check out other areas of the venue during this time.
Beginning at 12:00 PM, all members must have their badge in order to access the FIRST Robotics Competition area.
See the Team Load In/Out section for all of the details.
Division Assignments
We expect to release division assignments by April 24th, which will be posted on the FRC-Events webpage. We will announce when divisions are posted via the FIRST Robotics Competition Facebook. We will continue to add late registering teams to divisions as they are confirmed.
Pit assignments will not be completed until the week of the event and pit maps with team locations will be posted on the Pit Maps section once they are final and an announcement will be posted on the FIRST Robotics Competition Facebook. Pit assignments will also be viewable in the FIRST Championship App.
Streaming
If you can’t join us at the event, or if you have family, friends, or sponsors who want to tune in back home, all of the FIRST Robotics Competition fields will be streamed on YouTube. In addition to dedicated streams for each of the eight divisions, FIRST Champs Live will be back this season for combined coverage and analysis of the entire event! Streaming links will be posted to the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Information webpage as well as our Webcast Guide page before the event.
Everything Else
There’s so much else going on in addition to the 600 FIRST Robotics Competition teams and the nearly 1,200 matches they’ll play during the event! FIRST® LEGO® League Explore will have 40 teams, FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge will have 160 teams, and FIRST® Tech Challenge has grown to more than 336 teams this year.
There are conferences on the third floor of the George R. Brown Convention Center on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and a full schedule of the sessions will be available on the app.
The Innovation Faire and Scholarship Row will again be on the second floor this year, where you can see the latest technology from some FIRST sponsors, meet with the Hall of Fame teams, and network with colleges and universities who recruit FIRST students.
We can’t wait to welcome our teams to this incredible event!