FIRST Tech Challenge Resources

The main evergreen FTC technical documentation hub for control systems, programming, robot building, vision, coaches, and team resources.

Stable official hub for the current competition manual, team updates, Q&A, game animation, and season materials.

StarterBots, inspection references, webinars, troubleshooting, wiring, SDK resources, and technical links.

Official Blocks, OnBot Java, Android Studio, control system, camera, AprilTag, and troubleshooting resources.

Official field setup guides, field CAD, field-tour videos, and current playing-field references.

Official system for current competition-rule questions and published clarifications.

Official FIRST safety manual and team safety-culture resources used across FTC and FRC.

Printable, bite-sized references for wiring, control system, 3D printing, programming, AprilTags, and the SDK.

Searchable FIRST library for team management, program, safety, award, branding, and technical resources.

Videos from FTC Iowa covering events, team support, training, season information, and resources useful to Iowa FTC students, coaches, and mentors.

The major community-written FTC guide covering getting started, hardware, mechanisms, design, software, awards, and team practices.

Official path for new teams learning how FTC works and how to get a robot and control system running.

Organized technical, CAD, software, and team resources for teams with prior FTC experience.

Comparison and explanation of FTC structural systems, fasteners, motors, servos, wheels, motion hardware, and common components.

Engineering design process, CAD, prototyping, design strategy, and practical design methods for FTC robots.

Reference material for commonly used FTC mechanisms and design patterns such as slides, arms, intakes, claws, and drivetrains.

FTC build-system kits plus StarterBot assembly instructions, CAD, example code, and mechanism resources.

Evergreen-style preseason build platform for learning assembly, drivetrain fundamentals, programming, and driver practice.

Official wiring, routing, strain relief, power, signal reliability, and troubleshooting guidance for FTC robots.

FIRST-specific Onshape resources, FTC parts library access, field models, tutorials, and team CAD setup guidance.

Official CAD fundamentals, assemblies, drawings, configurations, and advanced Onshape learning pathways.

FTC-focused CAD learning guidance and links that connect general CAD skills to robot design workflows.

REV setup guidance for Control Hub wiring, configuration, firmware, networking, and basic operation.

Detailed FTC documentation for Control Hub, Expansion Hub, Driver Hub, sensors, motors, servos, firmware, and troubleshooting.

Community reference for batteries, wiring, hubs, motors, servos, sensors, and practical FTC electrical considerations.

Official Android Studio SDK repository with TeamCode, sample OpModes, releases, and development resources.

Official tutorials for Blocks, OnBot Java, Android Studio, vision, advanced programming topics, and control-system configuration.

Free FTC-specific Java book with examples and exercises designed around the FTC SDK and robot programming.

Hands-on FTC Java video tutorials covering robot configuration, DC motors, encoders, sensors, gamepad control, and reusable mechanism classes.

API reference for official FTC SDK packages and classes.

FTC-specific software reference covering OpModes, telemetry, encoders, control loops, localization, vision, and programming practices.

Command-based framework, gamepad utilities, controllers, geometry, kinematics, odometry, hardware wrappers, and other reusable FTC software tools.

Source code, releases, examples, and issue tracking for FTCLib.

FTC-focused control theory guide covering PID, feedforward, motion control, filters, localization, and related controls concepts.

FTC motion planning, trajectory following, localization, actions, and tuning framework documentation.

Ready-to-use Android Studio project with Road Runner, FTC Dashboard, tuning tools, and example structure.

FTC path follower using Bézier curves, localization, PIDF, path building, tuning, and autonomous routines.

Source, releases, examples, and issue tracking for the Pedro Pathing FTC path follower.

Desktop visualization/simulation tool commonly used to preview Road Runner trajectories before running them on a robot.

FRC documentation, but highly transferable explanations of PID, feedforward, motion profiling, state-space control, and estimation.

FTC-focused OpenCV wrapper and examples for webcam pipelines and custom computer-vision processing.

Desktop simulator for developing and testing EasyOpenCV/OpenCV pipelines without needing the physical FTC robot.

Official sample OpModes in the FTC SDK for cameras, VisionPortal, AprilTags, and image processing.

Browser-based practice environment for FTC-style programming and autonomous development without a physical robot.

Live telemetry, plotting, field drawing, camera streams, and tuning variables from a browser.

Practical FTC tutorials for gamepads, mecanum drive, telemetry, encoders, bulk reads, and other common software tasks.

Authoritative award descriptions; always pair community advice with current Competition Manual criteria.

Community guidance on awards, judging, engineering portfolio, team presentation, and award preparation.

Practical guidance on structuring, editing, and presenting an FTC engineering portfolio.

Official event, match, rankings, team, advancement, and award information.

Community analytics platform for FTC team/event data, statistics, comparisons, and scouting research.

Official developer interface for event and team data used in scouting tools and data-analysis projects.

Official team organization, mentor, budget, fundraising, marketing, outreach, safety, and event-preparation guidance.

Official coach/admin landing page for registration, Core Values, mentor guidance, team management, and competition checklists.

Community guidance on team organization, outreach, presentations, documentation, collaboration, and sustainable practices.

Official searchable technical forum for software, hardware, control system, and troubleshooting questions.

Large community Discord with channels for programming, mechanical design, CAD, awards, strategy, and team support.

Active community subreddit for robot design, programming questions, competition discussion, reveals, and general FTC conversation.

Curated discovery site with hundreds of FTC resources organized by category and experience level.

Open-source FTC projects and libraries including EasyOpenCV and other community tooling.

Open-source home for Road Runner, FTC Dashboard, and related FTC software tools.