FTC Launchpad · Map the season
Map the season
- Three missions: FTC Docs, GM0, Game Manual (rules + scoring). Tap each green box for steps.
What the links are about (no wall of text)
- Mission 1 — FTC Docs (“owner’s manual + software”)
- Control Hub & Expansion Hub → motors & sensors
- Configure hardware in software (names, ports)
- Tutorials: Blocks, OnBot Java, Android Studio
- Goal: know where to look, not memorize everything
- Mission 2 — GM0 (“how good teams think”)
- Start Here → pages for rookies
- Know Your Lingo → slang (drivetrain, intake, CAD, …)
- Not a substitute for Game Manual rules
- Mission 3 — Game Manual (“law of this season”)
- TOC → game overview, field, robot rules, match play, scoring (names vary)
- Read scoring early → what “good” looks like
Mission 1 — FTC Docs (official brain)
What to do (5–10 min)
- Open the docs home; scan the sidebar or landing page.
- Notice: overview, programming, hardware / control system
- Mini-challenge: find the page about Blocks → bookmark for Code + build
Start here
ftc-docs.firstinspires.org — FIRST Tech Challenge documentation (latest)
Mission 2 — Game Manual 0 (community “start here”)
Rookie path (10–15 min)
- Read Start Here → best pages for beginners
- Skim Know Your Lingo → decode team chatter
- Mini-challenge: 3 new words + what they mean
Mission 3 — Current game manual (TOC + scoring)
How to read it without drowning
- Step A — TOC: open the PDF outline
- Usually find: game description, field, robot rules, match play, scoring (names vary)
- Step B — Scoring first: “What actions get points?” → what the robot should do
- Step C: one surprising rule → share at practice
- Power-up: long manual = you’re building a map, not cramming.
- Later, you’ll know where to look when something’s confusing at a match.
Season hub (manual + resources)
FIRST — FTC Game & Season (download the current Game Manual)
FTC evaluation process
Competing in FTC isn't just about the robot — judges look at your whole team.
What judges evaluate
- Robot performance — autonomous + tele-op scores across qualifying and elimination matches.
- Engineering portfolio — a written document describing your design process, decisions, and iterations. Submitted before the event.
- Inspire Award interview — judges ask about your design choices, outreach, and how the whole team contributed. Best overall team.
- Connect Award — how well your team connects with the STEM community (outreach, mentors, sponsors).
- Think Award — engineering portfolio; shows your design process and engineering notebook.
- Innovate Award — novel/creative robot feature or mechanism.
- Control Award — software design, autonomous strategy, sensor use.
Match structure
- Qualifying matches — each team plays 5 matches with randomly assigned alliance partners. Ranking points determine seeding.
- Alliance selection — top-ranked teams pick partners for elimination rounds.
- Elimination matches — best-of-3 between 2-team alliances; winner advances.
- Match breakdown: 30 s autonomous → 2 min tele-op → 30 s end-game. Total: ~3 min of actual play.
- Tip: awards are as important as match scores. Many championship slots go to teams that score well and wow the judges.
- Start your engineering portfolio on week 1 — document every design decision as you go.
Checklist
Explore more (optional)
FIRST FTC program homeBig-picture program
Programming resources indexBlocks, Java, tools
GM0 mission statementWhat GM0 is for
GM0 — Being a teamRoles & habits
- School & team first.
- Coach vs website → follow your coach.
- They know your schedule & rules.