The blog today is from the (very tired) FIRST Robotics Competition staff.

All documents or files referenced below as ‘encrypted’ can be opened with the single key that will be provided at the end of the Kickoff broadcast tomorrow. Tomorrow!!!!

Please do not re-host or redistribute the content posted by FIRST. Anyone is welcome to post links to our content, though, as long as the content itself remains on FIRST servers. The content could change at any time, and it does no one any good to have old files floating around. By linking to our content instead of hosting, you can make sure everyone is getting the current version.

Control System Software

All FRC Control System Software has been posted and is now available for download. Note that you will need the encryption key from the Kickoff broadcast to access the NI Update Suite in order to get anything running on a roboRIO, but all other content is unencrypted. A quick guide of what to grab for installation later can be found here.

Field Drawings

Download encrypted field drawings here.

Game Q&A System

You can’t possibly have game questions yet! But, the Q&A system for the game will open at Noon Eastern on Wednesday, January 11th, after you have had a few days to digest the game manual and have (likely) been able to find answers to the first questions that pop into your head.

Team Authorization Codes for the Q&A System are available now in the Team Registration System. The codes can be found in the “Access Passwords/Voucher Codes” section here:

Each code allows exactly ONE person from your team to ASK questions. However, anyone can make an account in the Q&A System in order to subscribe to questions to be notified when an answer is published. Users do NOT need an account to read and search existing questions. We encourage everyone to make their accounts prior to next Wednesday in order to be ready when the system opens.

More details will be available early next week about all the awesome features in this new system!

Event Experience Page

We are happy to announce that the final section of the Game Documents (formerly the Admin Manual) is now available! Rules for the Event Experience, as well as what to expect at Events can be found here. Please read this page. It includes key information, like the all-important rule against saving seats at events (and what to do if you see a team breaking the all-important rule against saving seats at events).

Replacement Parts for your Kickoff Kit

The process we’ll be using to get information from you about any missing or damaged parts in your Kickoff Kits has changed for 2017. For 2017, we will use a separate webform (similar to the way we did the drive base kit option) for each Kickoff Kit container you receive: the drive base kit, the rookie tote (including external items), and the veteran tote (including external items.)

Please note and understand that we will only accept selections made using these forms.

Steps for submitting a replacement parts request are as follows:

Click the webform links on the Kit of Parts webpage. (The links will be available on Saturday, January 7, 2017). Fill in the form. The Team ID can be found at the end of the url that a “Lead Coach/Mentor 1” or “Lead Coach/Mentor 2” sees after clicking on a dashboard button, like “Manage Team Contact,” when logged in the team’s registration account. It is a 6-digit number. This was the same process for the drive base option. Select the quantity you are missing of each item from the drop down list. We recommend checking the “send me a copy of my responses” box at the end of the form so you have a copy of each for your records.

A few notes about the forms:

You may only submit each form one time. Any subsequent entries will be discarded, so please ensure that the data you are putting in is correct.

Please only report/request items that were missing or damaged upon arrival.

We do not ship to PO boxes.

The part number for each item is at the end of the title.

The items are typically in the same order as the Kickoff Kit Checklists with the separate items being at the bottom.

If you have any questions please email, frcparts@firstinspires.org.