This blog is the final blog on the task forces we created over the off-season. Over the past few seasons, teams and participants have seen an increase in robot and field damage. We have been evaluating ways to reduce damage to ensure that participants are safe during match play, robots are able to participate throughout the season with a reasonable amount of maintenance, field elements are robust enough to hold up through the full competition season, and that matches remain fun and exciting to watch.
This is a complex problem with many variables including increasing advances in robot technology, a rise in popularity of swerve drive, and other game factors that have incentivized fast speed and acceleration. This summer, we looked at different ways to reduce field and robot damage during match play in three specific areas: increasing field element robustness, reducing robot speed and energy, and evaluating the effectiveness of bumpers. We also recognize the impact that the game design itself plays and have factored that into the game design process for future years.
Increasing Field Robustness
For some background, field components travel from event to event throughout the competition season and need to be robust enough for the season while also able to be disassembled and transported from event to event. FIRST ÂŽ staff looked at both evergreen structures on the field that are consistent from year to year, as well as taking lessons learned into designs for game specific elements on the field for 2025 and beyond. The game specific elements will be shown at Kickoff but include increased plastic thickness on areas where robots interact.
For evergreen elements, there are two types of field perimeters that are used at events â Bri-Weld and AndyMark. The FIRST designed Bri-Weld welded perimeter is used at most regional events, the FIRST Championship, and at some district events. The AndyMark field perimeter is used at some district events and some international regional events. FIRST stores and maintains the perimeters and evergreen elements for most regional events and the FIRST Championship while local program delivery partners (PDPs) store and maintain these components within their own districts and some international events. Additions to the welded perimeter for this season include:
- Increased bracing on perimeter pieces behind the driver station
- Replacement of all hook and loop on field elements stored at FIRST
One specific issue seen is falling operator consoles when robots hit the driver stations during match play. There will continue to be a 2 in. strip of the âloop sideâ of hook and loop tape on the driver station shelf for teams to secure their operator consoles to during the match. Additionally, at some events, there were reports of the driver station shelf becoming dislodged and falling. To address this, an additional brace has been added to the shelf of the welded perimeter.
This brace includes a 1 in. x 2 in. x 1/8 in. thick clip that sits on the front edge driver station shelf on the welded perimeters. Teams should keep this change in mind when constructing their operator consoles to ensure they fit on the shelf and still engage with the hook and loop tape.
For 2025, the same carpet will be used from 2024. This has seen an increase in damage as robots continue to choose swerve drives and high grip wheel solutions. Gaffers tape is typically used to repair damage and holes in the carpet so teams should expect wear as the event progresses. We continue to evaluate the future of carpet used at events, with the goal to find a robust commercially available product that can also be purchased by teams.
Reducing Robot Speed and Energy
In this area, we received community survey feedback and evaluated input from a 2023 task force that included FIRST staff and community members. Overall, there were many suggestions from the community on ways to reduce robot speed, acceleration, and overall energy. In this area, we were looking for solutions that would have a measured impact on reduction on robot speed and energy with minimal frustrations for volunteers, teams, and robot part vendors.
Last season, the task force implemented a drive train 4-motor limit. For 2025, there are no planned additional restrictions on robot speed, power, or current. Many areas were evaluated, but we didnât feel that any recommended change would have a positive impact that would outweigh the potential negative impact to teams, vendors, and volunteers. In addition to the changes to the field (above) and bumpers (below) we believe specific aspects of the 2025 game are likely to help mitigate these concerns for this season. Additional changes may be made for 2026 and future seasons as we evaluate these concerns through 2025.
Bumpers
A task force composed of FIRST staff and community members was created to discuss and evaluate bumpers. Goals of the group were to:
- improve options for teams to make robust bumpers,
- make bumpers easier for teams to build, and
- make bumpers easier for inspectors to inspect.
Overall, with recommendations from the task force the following changes will be made for 2025:
- Allow other materials for backer and padding
- Increase allowance for dimensions that frequently cause inspection issues
- Adjust corner and padding requirements to ensure corners are protected and there is an increased bumper to bumper interaction area.
An overview of specific changes can be found in the Bumper Changes Overview. The 2025 FIRST ÂŽ Robotics Competition game manual will have the complete final ruleset.
Finally, we want to give a huge thank you to the Bumper Task Force group, who were mostly volunteers.
Major W on these bumper changes!
Thank You FIRST for not making slow robots
Edit: Weâre gonna see some big robots this year now that the max robots with 30âx30â can be up. To 38.5in wide
ââŚwe believe specific aspects of the 2025 game are likely to help mitigate these concerns for this season.â
Say goodbye to your wide open field. Say hello to Recycle Rush 2.0! 
(Or Stronghold. Or Destination Deep Space. OrâŚ)
⢠Allow for heavier bumpers by only specifying a maximum overall robot weight
This seems bad? Teams will skimp on bumpers to allow for heavier robots? Everything else seems very good.
I was incorrect.
@Joe_G corrected me below! Very good change!!!
There goes my hope of a Lunacy regolith return with brushless and swerve. The true final form of FRC.
(For real tho, anticipating blockade field elements a la Stronghold to massively limit swerve speed potential.)
These are the most significant changes since bumpers were included as an optional protection in the early 2000s. Not all questions are answered but I look forward very much to experimenting with new materials and dimensions. I have a limited role in FRC these days but bumpers remain my favorite area of involvement.
I want to be clear that I am full of praise for FIRST on setting up task forces for some of the major areas of difficulty for teams to be able to successfully compete in FRC. We are seeing more action from these series of efforts than I recall seeing in the last two decades, and that is to be highly lauded.
I agree that the Task Force has earned some recognition here.
Bumpers have been a touchy subject for a while now.
(ducks)
Now it is time to start researching materials âŚ
I read it as "robot without bumpers can be 125lb max, and robot with bumpers can be 140lb max" NOT the "robot without bumpers can be 125lb max, and bumpers can 15lb max" weâve had in years prior. So if youâve got a 100lb robot, you can make 40lb bumpers, but you canât make a 135lb robot and 5lb bumpers.
10% of Pool Noodle Market Disappears Overnight!
Manchester, NH â Pool Noodle suppliers nationwide are reeling over a decision to remove the requirement that pool noodles be used inside of âBumpersâ used in the FIRST Robotics Competition. Paul Newdell, spokesperson for The Foam Noodle Superstore is quite concerned for the future of his company. âThis robotics market was a large source of year-round demand. In a world where people only swim in the summer, being able to sell these noodles in January really helped our companyâ.
FIRST Robotics was contacted for comment, but we received no response.
In other news, Construction Supply Stores are dealing with a rapid increase in demand for Foam Backing Rod. Sources say this monstrous increase in demand is NOT related to Port Strikes. More to come.
@bkahl I would like to spend some time over the next few months experimenting with bumper construction and materials that follow these new guidelines, as a way of giving teams a head start with knowledge about what works and what doesnât. Iâd welcome having you or anyone else to join this project. Thereâs a lot to learn and many ways we can help teams be successful with this.
After one season, I donât think thatâll be an issue.
Heck, after Week 1, I think any team taking that route will be changing their designs.
am I the only person that caught the âREUSINGâ 2024 carpet (which were already reuse from 2023)??? These are already filled with âpatchedâ holesâŚso I guess the âgame specificâ that would slow things down is part of the âholes not going to matterâ on the carpet.
Super happy about these changes, really excited to learn more about the new materials allowed. Also interested in whether or not this will incentivize teams to build lighter in exchange for more optimal bumpers.
This is HUGE thank you again FIRST and the Task Forces!
Also I guess this means bumper scouting is going to get a lot more intense haha!
RIP getting through a standard door.
I think itâs interesting to see that alternatives to pool noodles for bumpers are being introduced! Canât wait to see some reports on this in the coming months.
There will probably be a maximum robot weight, and a maximum overall weight. If you want to make your bumpers beefier, you can make a lighter robot.
Carpet isnât even re-used event to event (except in specific cases). New rolls every event.
The TYPE of carpet is the same (even though HQ is trying to move to a different type); the specific rolls of carpet are different.