FRC articles, decoded for the pit.

FRC vs FTC vs VEX: Which Robotics Program Is Right for You?

FRC vs FTC vs VEX compared: robot size, cost, age range, season length, and programming, plus how to choose the right robotics competition for you.

Joining an FRC Team: Your First-Season Survival Guide

How to join an FRC team as a rookie: where to find a team, when to join, picking a department, what to expect your first year, and surviving your first build season.

What Happens at FRC Kickoff (and How to Prepare)

What happens at FRC Kickoff: the game reveal, manual, and Kit of Parts, plus exactly how to prepare your team for the six-week build season.

How FRC Competitions Work: Matches, Ranking Points, Alliances, and Playoffs

How FRC competitions work: qualification matches, ranking points, alliance selection, and the double-elimination playoff format, explained for new teams.

Your First FRC Competition: What to Actually Expect

What to expect at your first FRC competition: the day-by-day schedule, pit setup, robot inspection, matches, and a full what-to-bring checklist for rookies.

The FRC Control System Explained: roboRIO, PDH, Radio, and Everything Between

The FRC control system explained: how the roboRIO, REV PDH, radio, motor controllers, and CAN bus connect to make your robot drive — a plain-English electronics board tour.

FRC Battery Guide: Charging, Care, Testing, and Safety

FRC battery guide: how to charge, care for, test with a Battery Beak, wire the SB50 connector, and safely handle your 12V FRC battery fleet.

AprilTags in FRC: How Robots See the Field

AprilTags in FRC are the fiducial markers robots use to see the field and know their exact position. How the tags, cameras, and pose estimation actually work.

FRC Scholarships: How FIRST Can Help Pay for College

FRC scholarships explained: how FIRST connects robotics students to tens of millions in college scholarships, who qualifies, the Dean's List Award, and how to apply.

The FRC Offseason: What Strong Teams Do Between Seasons

What strong FRC teams do in the offseason: new-member training, offseason competitions, and skill projects that set up a winning season.

How to Read the FRC Game Manual (Without Getting Lost)

The FRC game manual is the season's official rulebook. Here's how to read the FRC manual without getting lost: structure, rule prefixes, scoring, and Team Updates.

Practice FRC Programming Without a Robot: WPILib Simulation

Practice FRC programming without a robot using WPILib simulation: run real robot code on your laptop, drive a virtual robot, model physics, and test.

FRC Autonomous with PathPlanner: A Beginner's Guide to Auto Routines

Learn how FRC teams build autonomous routines with PathPlanner (PPLib): paths vs autos, AutoBuilder, named commands, odometry, tuning, and Choreo.

FRC Vision: Limelight vs PhotonVision and AprilTag Tracking

Compare Limelight and PhotonVision for FRC vision: AprilTag tracking, pose estimation with addVisionMeasurement, MegaTag2, latency, calibration, and cost.

FRC Motors Compared: NEO vs Kraken X60 vs Falcon 500 vs NEO Vortex

Compare FRC brushless motors: REV NEO, NEO Vortex, Kraken X60, and Falcon 500. Exact specs, FOC explained, and which motor to pick for drivetrain vs mechanisms.

Scouting

FRC Build Season Timeline: A Week-by-Week Plan from Kickoff to Competition

A practical week-by-week FRC build season timeline, from Kickoff and game analysis through prototyping, CAD, fabrication, wiring, programming, and driver practice.

FRC Pneumatics: How to Design, Wire, and Program a Pneumatic System

Complete FRC pneumatics guide: components, the REV Pneumatic Hub vs PCM, single vs double solenoids, safe wiring, WPILib programming, and the 60/120 psi limits.

9 min · Jun 24, 2026Read

FRC Command-Based Programming: Subsystems, Commands, and the Scheduler

A beginner-friendly guide to WPILib command-based programming in Java: subsystems, commands, the CommandScheduler, triggers, and composing commands.

9 min · Jun 24, 2026Read

How to Tune PID on an FRC Robot: A Practical Guide

A hands-on guide to tuning PID and feedforward on FRC mechanisms: a safe tuning order, fixing oscillation and steady-state error, and using WPILib SysId.

FRC Programming Languages: Java vs C++ vs Python

An honest, beginner-friendly comparison of the three WPILib-supported FRC languages — Java, C++, and Python (RobotPy) — with vendor support and how to choose.

7 min · Jun 24, 2026Read

The FRC Software Toolbox: Driver Station, Dashboards, AdvantageScope & SysId

A beginner-friendly tour of the FRC software ecosystem beyond robot code: Driver Station, dashboards (Glass, Elastic, AdvantageScope), SysId, and vendor tools.

Electrical

FRC CAN Bus Explained (and How to Fix Common Problems)

How the FRC CAN bus works, the daisy-chain wiring with 120-ohm termination, avoiding device ID conflicts, and fixing the most common CAN failures.

FRC Robot Rules: Weight, Size, and Bumper Limits Explained

A beginner's guide to FRC robot weight, size, frame perimeter, extension, and bumper rules - with the recent-season numbers and why you must check the current manual.

FRC Onshape Tutorial: How to CAD Your First Robot Part

A beginner Onshape tutorial for FRC: sign up free, learn Part Studios and Assemblies, sketch and extrude your first part, and pull in COTS parts.

How to Structure an FRC Team: Subteams, Roles, and Leadership

A practical guide to organizing an FRC team: the common subteams, student leadership, mentor roles, meeting cadence, rookie onboarding, and sustainability.

7 min · Jun 24, 2026Read

10 Common FRC Rookie Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

The 10 mistakes that trip up first-year FRC teams the most, with a concrete fix for each: scope, the game manual, driver practice, drivetrain, wiring, scouting, and more.

What Is FRC? FIRST Robotics Competition Explained

FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) is a high school robotics league where student teams build large robots in six weeks to play a new game each year.

FRC Programming Tutorial: Getting Started with WPILib

A beginner-friendly guide to programming an FRC robot with WPILib: pick a language, install the tools, write your first robot program, and deploy it.

5 min · Jun 23, 2026Read

Electrical

How to Wire an FRC Robot: A Beginner Electrical Guide

A beginner-friendly, accurate guide to wiring an FRC robot: battery, 120A breaker, PDH, roboRIO, radio, CAN bus, and the wire-gauge rules that pass inspection.

5 min · Jun 23, 2026Read

The Best CAD Software for FRC (and How to Choose)

Onshape vs SolidWorks vs Fusion 360 for FRC: all three are free for teams. Here is how to pick the right CAD software for your robot.

Scouting

FRC Scouting Guide: How to Scout and Build a Picklist

Learn how FRC scouting works, what OPR and EPA actually measure, and how to turn match data into a ranked picklist for alliance selection.

Drivetrain

FRC Gear Ratios Explained

A beginner-friendly guide to FRC gear ratios and drivetrain gearing: how reduction trades speed for torque, the free-speed formula, and how to pick a ratio.

5 min · Jun 23, 2026Read

Awards & Business

How to Get FRC Sponsors: A Fundraising Guide

A practical guide to funding your FIRST Robotics Competition team: where to find sponsors, grants like NASA and BAE, and how to ask the right way.

Drivetrain

FRC Drivetrain Types: Tank, Swerve, and Mecanum

A beginner-friendly guide to FRC drivetrains: how tank, swerve, and mecanum drives work, their tradeoffs, and how to pick one for your robot.

The FRC Kit of Parts, Explained

What rookie FRC teams actually get in the Kit of Parts: the totes, drive base, KitBot, control system, and the Virtual Kit of software and vouchers.

FRC Drive Team Guide: Roles and How to Win

A clear, accurate guide to FRC drive team roles - drivers, coach, human player, and technician - plus practical tips for winning more matches.

PID Control in FRC, Explained Simply

A beginner-friendly guide to PID control in FRC: what kP, kI, and kD actually do, how to tune them, and why most teams skip the I term.

CAD & Design

The FRC Robot Design Process, Step by Step

A clear, beginner-friendly walkthrough of the FRC robot design process, from game analysis and strategic prioritization to prototyping, CAD, and iteration.