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Preparing your Maryland FTC team for the robot game

The FIRST Tech Challenge robot game represents one of the most dynamic arenas in student engineering, blending strategy, hardware, and software into a fast-paced contest of precision. Each season, teams receive a brand-new game that demands creative problem-solving and rapid iteration, whether the squad operates out of a suburban garage in Adelaide, a community workshop in Brisbane, or a classroom in Melbourne. The path from unpacking the game reveal video to a polished, match-ready robot can feel overwhelming for first-year coaches, but a steady preparation rhythm keeps the stress manageable and the learning deep.

Preparation is rarely a straight line. Designers prototype, programmers iterate, drivers practice, and the team collectively reworks strategies as the season unfolds. Australian FTC teams often juggle long travel distances between regional scrimmages and interstate travel for national-level showcases, which adds a logistical layer that complements the technical work. By breaking the season into clear phases of study, design, build, code, and compete, rookies and veterans alike can hit their stride without burning out.

Maryland FIRST Robotics supports teams across the state and increasingly connects with the broader global FIRST community, including mentors who travel between hemispheres to share best practices. The following sections walk through the practical steps that help a team transform curiosity into a competitive, reliable robot, with resources and habits drawn from Australian maker culture along the way.

Reading the game manual and scoring objectives

Before any metal is cut or any line of code is written, the entire team should huddle around a printed copy of the current season's game manual. The manual outlines the field layout, the mission scoring possibilities, the penalty definitions, and the match flow, including the autonomous period, the driver-controlled period, and the endgame. Skimming it once is not enough; effective teams spend a full evening highlighting every scoring opportunity and building a shared vocabulary of terms like power shot, shared hub, or whatever the current game names its targets.

Once the manual is familiar, the next step is to map every scoring action against the time budget of a match. A two-minute thirty-second teleop period can disappear quickly when drivers are learning controls for the first time, so prioritising high-value, low-risk scoring paths early in the season keeps the robot useful while designers experiment with riskier attachments. Australian teams sometimes invite parents and alumni to help run mock matches, which doubles as practice for both drivers and the human player role.

It also pays to study the scoring sheet from the previous year's world championship and look for patterns in how top alliances played. Watching archived match footage on YouTube, especially from regional events across the Asia-Pacific region, exposes teams to clever strategies that may not have surfaced in their local scrimmages. Documenting two or three north-star strategies helps the team stay focused when design choices feel endless.

Sketching concepts and selecting the drive system

With the scoring goals clear, the design conversation begins in earnest. Sketching on whiteboards, modelling in Onshape or Fusion 360, and debating trade-offs around weight, centre of gravity, and cycle time are productive ways to explore ideas. Many Australian teams gather at community halls or school workshops stocked with supplies from a local Bunnings or an independent engineering supplier, then iterate using cardboard mock-ups before committing to aluminium or polycarbonate parts.

Choosing a drive system is one of the earliest and most consequential decisions. The table below compares the four most common chassis types used in FTC, weighing cost, complexity, and agility against one another.

Drive type Typical cost (AUD) Build complexity Maneuverability Best for
Mecanum wheels $300–$500 Medium High (omni-directional) Tight fields, precise alignment
6-wheel drop centre $200–$350 Low to medium Medium Pushing matches, robust play
Tank tread $250–$400 Medium Low Rough surfaces, defence
Swerve drive $700–$1,200 High Very high Top-tier competitive play

Swerve drive unlocks unmatched agility but demands a sizeable budget and a strong machining workflow, while a six-wheel drop centre setup is forgiving for first-year teams and easier to repair on the fly. Mecanum wheels sit in a comfortable middle ground for many Australian teams that compete on smooth gymnasium floors but occasionally face carpeted venues. Choosing the right chassis often matters less than committing to it early so that the rest of the build can proceed without constant redesign.

Fabricating parts and assembling mechanisms

Once the concept settles, fabrication begins. Teams typically rely on a mix of 3D-printed components, waterjet or laser-cut aluminium, and off-the-shelf hardware. In Australia, importing specialised parts can attract the Goods and Services Tax, so many squads learn to source locally from suppliers in Melbourne or Brisbane to keep costs predictable. Keeping a tidy inventory spreadsheet, with unit prices recorded in Australian dollars, prevents the dreaded mid-season budget surprise.

Safety is non-negotiable in any workshop, and Australian schools follow strict Work Health and Safety guidelines covering everything from mandatory safety glasses to the safe operation of bandsaws and drill presses. Posting a printed safety checklist near the workbench and running a five-minute briefing at the start of every session keeps the team aligned with both school policy and national standards. The habit pays dividends when the team travels to interstate events where venue safety briefings may be more rigorous than what the team experiences at home.

Assembly goes faster when the team adopts a few simple disciplines. Labelling every bag of screws, photographing each step before disassembly, and assigning one captain per subsystem (chassis, intake, outtake, climber) prevents the chaos that often derails weekend build sessions. Even small touches, like colour-coding wiring harnesses with heat-shrink tubing, save hours of troubleshooting later in the season.

Programming routines and tuning sensors

Coding turns a pile of metal and plastic into a purposeful machine. Most FTC teams use Java or Blocks within the official SDK, with newer squads sometimes experimenting with Kotlin or learning the basics of computer vision through tools like AprilTags and OpenCV. The autonomous period is where matches are won or lost, so dedicating the first month of the season to a reliable 30-second autonomous routine pays off well before any flashy endgame feature is built.

Sensor tuning is a quiet but essential habit. Colour sensors need to be calibrated against the actual LED lighting of the competition venue, which can look quite different from the workshop's fluorescent tubes. Inertial measurement units help with straight-line driving and turning, but they drift over time and require periodic re-zeroing. Even a basic odometry setup, using dead wheels with encoders, can dramatically improve a robot's ability to approach scoring targets with the repeatability that drivers struggle to match manually.

Driver practice deserves its own weekly slot. Many Australian teams split practice time between a half-scale field at their workshop and a full-scale field rented from a local school or community centre. Running timed drills, scoring as many game pieces as possible within 90 seconds, builds muscle memory and surfaces bugs in code that pure programming sessions miss.

Funding travel and keeping the team sustainable

No robot reaches a competition without a budget, and sponsorship is the lifeblood of most FTC programs. Writing a clear pitch deck that highlights the team's goals, community impact, and visibility for sponsors opens doors with local engineering firms, family-owned businesses, and even multinationals with Australian offices. For a deeper walk-through of funding outreach, see how to secure sponsorship for your Maryland robotics team. Teams that document their journey on social media and in school newsletters tend to attract more interest, since sponsors love seeing tangible evidence of the team's growth.

Travel adds another layer of complexity, especially across Australia's vast distances. A team based in Perth flying to a Brisbane event needs to budget for flights, accommodation, ground transport, and meals, all while keeping parents and school administrators informed. Booking early, sharing accommodation with another team, and applying for travel grants through state-level STEM organisations can shave hundreds of dollars off the final tally.

Mentorship is the final piece that keeps a program sustainable across seasons. Recruiting engineers from local universities, parents with technical backgrounds, or alumni who aged out of FTC ensures that institutional knowledge does not vanish when a senior cohort graduates. Establishing a quiet, persistent culture of documentation and handover transforms a single great season into a multi-year program that keeps producing capable, confident young engineers.

Practical habits that strengthen any FTC team throughout the season:

Pre-competition checklist for the week before an event:

Building a competitive FTC robot is a long game, and every season teaches lessons that no textbook can match. Stay curious, document everything, and keep your eyes on the next iteration rather than the perfect design. If your team is ready to take the next step, reach out to Maryland FIRST Robotics today and start building a season worth remembering.