drawer / General
The intense period after Kickoff (historically ~6 weeks) when teams design and build their robot before competitions.
also calledBuild period
where you actually meet Build Season
Build season is where a schedule either exists or it doesn't. Six weeks sounds long until you subtract exams, snow days, and the fortnight a first article actually takes to fabricate. Teams that arrive with a working robot are the ones that froze the design in week two and spent weeks five and six driving it — not the ones still machining on the last night.
Free and structured, and none of them need an account to read.
1lesson
the jargon travels in packs
General
The event in early January that opens the season: the new game is revealed and the build period begins.
read the entryMechanical
The FIRST-provided everybot/starter robot design teams can build as a reliable, competition-ready baseline.
read the entryCompetition & Game
The required check that a robot meets size, weight, safety, and rules before it can compete.
read the entryGeneral
The flagship high-school program where teams have a few weeks to design, build, and program an industrial-size robot to play that season's game.
read the entryBuild Season is one of 70 entries in the catalogue. The guides are where these words get used in order, instead of one at a time.