Starter FTC Kits

The starter FTC kits can help the rookie team quickly build a functional robot, be familiar with the hardware, save a lot of hassle of picking hundreds of parts. We highly recommend the rookie team to start with the starter FTC kits.

Remember to apply FTC discount (up to 25% off) when you order the parts. It is a big saving. We know that Gobilda, Servocity, Rev all provides discount for FTC students.

If you are completely new team, you need to buy the following sets (electronics set, control set, robot kit):

Electronics set:

1 control hub + 1 expansion hub (recommended).

• FTC game allows up to 8 motors, but 1 hub can only connect 4 motors. So usually all teams will buy 2 hubs: 1 control hub + 1 expansion hub, or 2 expansion hubs.

• You can buy the control hub in first store (https://ftc.pitsco.com/) after login to first dashboard. You can buy the expansion hub at https://www.revrobotics.com/.

• If you buy 2 expansion hubs, you also need to buy 1 extra android phone, but for new team who just started to buy the parts, control hub is a better choice (save 1 android phone, reduce cable connection, more reliable).

Control set

2 supported game tabs, 1 driver station (or 1 supported android phone), and a web cam

• For new team, we recommend to buy them in first store (https://ftc.pitsco.com/). It is a good deal for 210$ now.

Robot kit:

a kit to allow you to build a drive train and additional functional components

• There are many choices for robot FTC kit. We think Gobilda is the best built system and recommend teams to use Gobilda Kits, but other companies' kits can also work. You can see the link of the different FTC kits

• Gobilda FTC kit:

  • We mostly use Gobilda built system now.

  • If you choose this kit, we recommend to buy Strafer Chassis Kit as well for the drive train, because the the drive train in the FTC starter kit is not the best. The mecanum wheels in the strafer kit allows your robot to strafer in the field, much easier to control.

  • If you have cost constrain, you can buy the mecanum wheels itself and other components in that strafer chassis kit, except the 4 main motors (FTC starter kit already has the 4 main motors for drive train).

• Rev FTC kit.

  • Note that you can also buy this from first store (https://ftc.pitsco.com/) with discounted price. Our team bought it in the past, but we eventually moved to Gobilda

• Actobotics FTC kit:

  • it is similar to goBILDA, being made by the same company. It has always been a solid option with reliable parts. For most FTC teams, goBILDA would probably be a better choice as it is more flexible and compatible, unless you already buy a large stock of Actobotics parts in the past.

• Andymark FTC kit:

  • Andymark offers different drive train in the kit. However, it is very expensive.

• Tetrix FTC kit:

  • You can buy it in first store (https://ftc.pitsco.com/) with discounted price. Our personal experience is Tetrix built system is less reliable than other build system.

• You can see the following link to find out cons/pros of these different built systems.