Competition Manual Preview Release

Competition Manual Preview Release (V0)

The Competition Manual Preview Release (formerly Game Manual Part 1) was published today. You can find it at ftc.game (https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/game-and-season-info). This version of the Competition Manual includes most of the non-game-specific information for this season, so that FIRST^® Tech Challenge teams can get an early start on understanding advancement, awards, and robot construction rules if they want. It’s completely optional and if your team isn’t meeting yet, or you’re still enjoying the last of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, don’t worry you are not falling behind already!

The complete Competition Manual for DECODE™ sponsored by RTX will be released on Saturday September 6^th after the Kickoff broadcast airs on YouTube.

Don’t just dream it, DECODE it. Got what it takes? Check out the Start a Team page for tools to get started including grant information.

Competition Manual (V0) at a Glance

The format of the Competition Manual has mostly stayed the same. As a reminder for rule formatting:

• *Bold Green rules with a leading asterisk (*) are “evergreen” rules, meaning they are largely the same year-to-year
• Bold Orange rules are season specific and vary significantly year to year

Although evergreen rules remain mostly the same, there have been some changes to the manual this season. Teams should make sure to read the updated Competition Manual in its entirety. Some of the changes include:

• New advancement details
  • Please also see our Advancement & FIRST Championship Update blog and the Advancement Model Details white paper for more information
• Award updates and changes
  • Removal of the Motivate Award
  • Added two new awards, Sustain and Reach
  • Updated language for existing awards
• Robot rules updates and changes
  • Expansion limits are back, but details will not be released until kickoff
  • Maximum number of allowed servos reduced to 10
  • Minor robot rules changes throughout

Team Updates

Team Updates are back again this year with a slight change! For the DECODE season, Team Updates will be posted weekly, rather than bi-weekly. On weeks with no changes, a TU with “no change” will be released. Make sure to sign up for Team Update email reminders here. 

The first Team Update (TU00) will be released on Saturday, September 6^th at 12:00pm eastern time. TU00 will summarize all the major changes between the 2024-25 INTO THE DEEP^SM  rules and the 2025-26 DECODE rules. Subsequent Team Updates will cover detailed changes between versions of this year’s Competition Manual.