2027 Control System Testing Reminder
October 7, 2025
Before we get into details about Systemcore, I want to again extend a sincere “Thank you” to NI for their many years of support of FIRST® Robotics Competition via the compactRIO and roboRIO!
Today, we’re excited to announce that Systemcore units will be available for FIRST Robotics Competition teams to purchase via the FIRST® Storefront beginning on November 18, 2026. There will eventually be two versions of Systemcore available for purchase:
- one with a 4 GB RAM Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 for $550, and
- one with a 2 GB RAM Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 for $450.
4 GB Systemcores will go on sale November 18 and should begin shipping at that time. 2 GB Systemcores will go on sale later this year, with specific dates announced via the blog.
All FIRST Robotics Competition teams will receive a 4 GB Systemcore in the 2027 Season Specific Box of the Kickoff Kit and will be required to use Systemcore for the 2027 season. To help ensure FIRST Robotics Competition teams have access to additional Systemcore units to start the season, the initial batch of Systemcore will only be available for purchase to registered and secured FIRST Robotics Competition teams via the FIRST Storefront, and each team can purchase only one 4 GB Systemcore. This limit may be removed once initial demand has passed. Once additional inventory is on hand, Systemcores will be available for purchase from multiple companies within the FIRST ecosystem.
The 4GB version provides a future-ready device capable of handling robot code, multiple cameras, and on-bot tools all at once with room to spare. Teams that plan to make use of on-bot programming, don’t want to think twice about what on-bot tools are installed and running, and want to be the most prepared for any tools developed in the coming years should consider the 4GB version. The 2GB version provides a more cost-effective device that is still a significant leap from current technology and can handle all the same tasks with today’s software, just with less margin than the 4 GB version. Teams that want to save a little money and still get a highly performant controller capable of all the same in-match tasks with today’s software may want to consider the 2GB version.
There have been some hardware changes from the units used for FIRST Robotics Competition Alpha Testing to the Systemcore units that teams can purchase and will receive in their Kickoff Kits. Those changes were detailed in this Control System Update blog post from December. Some of those changes include eliminating the wire-to-board connectors for power and CAN, however, Systemcore will ship with power input cables and there will be both complete Molex-SL cables and parts in the Kickoff Kit Black Tote for the 2027 season.
The WPILib and Limelight teams continue working on implementing new features and fixing bugs reported by our alpha testing teams. A version of the 2027 season software will be available for teams to begin Beta Testing as soon as they receive devices and can be found on the Systemcore Testing Github. More polished documentation will continue to be added/updated on the WPILib Docs site as we progress towards Kickoff. The next major milestone on software implementation is the full offseason test we will be running at SoCal Showdown the second weekend in October. All teams at this event will run Systemcore and the new WPILib Driver Station, allowing us to test FMS integration in advance of the 2027 season. A huge “Thank you!” to this event for letting us put Systemcore to the full test prior to the season. The Systemcore presentations from the New England Mentor Conference and SoCal Showdown Crash Course provide detailed accounts of team experience with test units. Note that while developers of various parts of the hardware and software system were involved in reviewing and/or presenting that content, and therefore the content is generally accurate overall, these presentations are not official FIRST, WPILib, or Limelight content and are not 100% accurate.
For FIRST® Tech Challenge, we expect some alpha teams to continue testing over the coming months though we recognize many will shift focus to BIOBUZZ™ presented by RTX where Systemcore is not a legal option for events. As noted above, initial Systemcore purchases will be limited to registered and paid FIRST Robotics Competition teams, FIRST Tech Challenge teams will be able to purchase Systemcore when it becomes generally available from vendors, or when the Storefront rolls over to the 2027-28 season. Pricing and availability information for A301, battery solution, and Motioncore, is still being finalized and will be shared in future communications.
We extend our immense gratitude to the teams and volunteers who have provided feedback via testing and significant contribution to the development of Systemcore!