FIRST Robotics Competition Blog

New Radios at 2024 FIRST® Championship

Jan 04, 2024 Written by Matt Pilotte, Sr. Manager, Electrical Engineering

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Back in September, we blogged about a new 6GHz radio that we plan to introduce for the 2025 FIRST® Robotics Competition Season.

Long story short, we plan to use these radios at the 2024 FIRST® Championship, assuming we successfully pass decision gates over the next 3 months.

Since September, we have successfully tested these radios at several off-season events. While the testing revealed a few areas for improvement, the radio performance has generally met or exceeded our expectations.

Based on dialogue with FIRST engineering team members, FTAs from the FIRST Championship, the incredible support from Vivid Hosting, and the thoughtful discussions and feedback we've heard and read from the community, we feel confident in the ability to use the radios at this event. There are still a few gates that need to be cleared, and we plan to update status on those gates via this blog.

The decision points are:

  • Order for radios to be used at FIRST Championship due (COMPLETE)
  • Testing of signal strength of a single radio on the 2024 playing field (COMPLETE)
  • Testing of 6 radios operating simultaneously on the 2024 playing field standalone (i.e. not on robots)
  • Testing of 6 radios operating simultaneously on the 2024 playing field while on robots
  • Training & familiarization with radios for 2024 FIRST Championship FTAs
  • Delivery of radios for the event

We are currently evaluating testing the radios at an official event prior to the FIRST Championship. If we decide to move forward with that testing, we will update the community and work with the Partner and teams attending that event to ensure a smooth transition and high-quality event experience.

Planning for how these radios will be distributed and supported at the FIRST Championship is in development. More information on these details will be available as the event approaches.

If teams want to plan around potentially having to incorporate the radio into their robot design, teams can find a CAD model of the radio that can be 3D printed, and a part drawing showing overall dimensions on the product webpage.

Our huge thanks to the volunteers who agreed to support this project and to Vivid Hosting for donating the radios that will be used at the event!

 

 

 

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Comments

Submitted by Harrison Drake (not verified) on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 11:11am

As robot designs are about to start in the next week, can 3D models be provided to teams to ensure they do not run into fitment issues should they reach world championships? 

3D printable dummy models would also be a wonderful addition. 

Submitted by Steven (not verified) on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 11:52am

 

Have or will these radios be tested in an environment with 3-5 fields going at the same time? (Like the worlds field setup?). Will there be bandwidth issues still with these in that environment? (Maybe add 100 hotspots too)

Overall I think the radios are cool, just trying them at scale at Champs seems risky.  Maybe try Michigan State Champs too with 4 fields going?

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