Kickoff is Coming
December 4, 2024
1/7/25: The Autodesk Donated Software section was updated to clarify the change is only for mentors to access the software.
A huge “Thank you” to the staff, partners, teams, and volunteers that make each season’s Kickoff possible! And a huge thanks to Team 1318 for their game design challenge submission that inspired REEFSCAPESM presented by Haas!
Translated Manuals
While the English version of the manual is the official version, unofficial French, Spanish, Turkish, and Simplified Chinese manuals are also available on the Translated Manuals page. Team Updates are published by FIRST® in English only, and not typically incorporated in the translated manuals.
Field Tour Videos
We showed the Field Tour videos at the end of the Kickoff broadcast, and I’ll mention them again here. These videos are a great opportunity to learn some details about the field that teams will see at events.
Playing Field Assets
We also have field assets available on the Playing Field webpage that include CAD Models, Drawings, Team Elements and additional field assets provided by our suppliers. The assets provided by Suppliers were neither developed nor validated by FIRST, and differences between fields represented in these tools and the official field may exist.
Team Updates
Speaking of Team Updates, I wanted to remind everyone when Team Updates are posted. As mentioned in Section 1.9 of the Game Manual, Team Updates are posted on Tuesdays and Fridays beginning today through February 25th. After that, Team Updates continue to be posted on Tuesdays only and end on April 8th.
Team Updates are posted on the Season Materials webpage and anyone 18+ can sign up for email notifications as Team Updates are posted. Those who subscribe to the Team Updates will receive an email with a link to the latest Team Update shortly after the Team Update has been posted publicly.
New Process to Access Autodesk Donated Software
Autodesk donates software to FIRST teams via the Virtual Kit of Parts. The process for team mentors to access this donated software is changing, and Autodesk has written a memo with new instructions for teams to access this donation. The instructions referenced here will allow team mentors teams to access the donation while Autodesk works to improve this process for the future. The process for students to access donated software remains unchanged.
Questions & Answers
The official FIRST Robotics Competition Q&A opens Wednesday, January 8, at Noon Eastern Time. The Q&A is the place to ask your questions about the game and event rules, awards, drawings, inspection, and get official answers.
Anyone can make their own account in the Q&A system to subscribe to questions and be notified when answers are published. To get “asking” permissions with your account (limited to 1 account/team), you have to attach your team’s authorization code to your account. An account isn’t needed to just read and search existing questions/answers.
Please don’t forget to search for your question first. You may find it’s already been asked and answered (and if it’s already been asked but not answered, you don’t need to ask it again – just follow that question, and you’ll see when the answer’s posted).
Team Authorization Codes for the Q&A System are available in the Team Registration System to lead mentors 1 and 2. To access, go to the ‘Team Options’ section on the left of your FIRST Dashboard and click on ‘Payment & Product.’
Then click on ‘Passwords/Voucher Codes’ and you will find the code listed under FIRST/Q&A Key:
In the account you want asking questions, make sure it’s affiliated with your team:
Then, enter the authorization code retrieved from your team’s FIRST account:
Special shout-out to Blake Bourque, owner of Techplex Labs, who created our Q&A system. Blake is an alum of FIRST Robotics Competition Team 2648, Infinite Loop, from Oakland, Maine, USA and a current mentor of FIRST Robotics Competition Team 4909, Bionics. Thanks, Blake!