FTC Starter Kit (2026-2027 Season)

A complete, competition-ready parts foundation for a FIRST Tech Challenge team taking on the 2026–2027 BIOBUZZ season.

Sourcing a first robot piece by piece is where most robots stall (no pun intended) - hundreds of individual parts, all of which have to share a mounting pattern, a shaft standard and a connector standard before anything gets in motion. This kit skips that entirely: motors, servos, structure, drivetrain, fasteners, wiring and batteries arrive matched and ready to assemble.

Everything is built on goBILDA's Pattern, so parts interchange freely as your design evolves. Rotating assemblies run on ball bearings rather than plain bores or bushings, and mechanical power moves through 8mm REX shafting - a profile that drives positively instead of relying on a set screw biting into a round shaft, which is the usual first thing to slip under load.

The contents build goBILDA's 6WD drop-centre StarterBot chassis directly out of the box, complete with a GripForce Gecko wheel intake and a shooter mechanism.

Features

• Four 5203 Series Yellow Jacket planetary gear motors - two geared 19.2:1 (312 RPM) for drive and one 50.9:1 (117 RPM) for higher-torque mechanisms, all with 3.3–5V encoders for closed-loop control.

• 8mm REX splined shafting throughout, so hubs, sprockets and gears transmit torque through the spline rather than a set screw. Each shaft is stainless, E-clipped, and M4-threaded at both ends.

• Ball bearings at every rotating joint keep losses down, which shows up directly as longer battery life and more usable power.

• Four 2000 Series Dual Mode servos - two torque-biased and two speed-biased - plus the programmer to reconfigure them, covering most intake and shooter mechanisms without a second order.

• Complete 12V power path: 3000mAh NiMH nested battery, fused to 20A on an XT30, with its charger and a purpose-made mount.

• Wheel selection tuned for the BIOBUZZ game - Hogback traction wheels for drive, omni wheels for the drop-centre, and Gecko and roller wheels for a compliant intake.

• Wera ball-end hex keys and a 7mm nut driver included, so the kit is genuinely build-ready rather than nearly build-ready.

Specifications

Resources

• StarterBot Resource Guides

• goBILDA technical support and documentation

What's Included

Motors & conversion kits

• 3x 5203 Series Yellow Jacket Planetary Gear Motor (19.2:1, 312 RPM, 3.3–5V encoder)

• 1x 5203 Series Yellow Jacket Planetary Gear Motor (50.9:1, 117 RPM, 3.3–5V encoder)

• 1x 1:1 Conversion Kit for 19.2:1 ratio gearbox

Motor wiring

• 4x 2-Pos JST VH to 3.5mm bullet adaptor (100mm)

• 4x Encoder cable, 600mm (4-Pos JST PH to 4-Pos JST XH)

Servos, mounts and wiring

• 2x 2000 Series Dual Mode Servo (25-2, torque)

• 2x 2000 Series Dual Mode Servo (25-3, speed)

• 1x Servo programmer for 2000 Series Dual Mode servos

• 3x Compact ServoBlock (standard size, H25T spline, hub shaft)

• 1x 1802 Series Servo Frame (43mm width)

• 1x 1908 Series Servo Hub (25-tooth spline, 32mm diameter)

• 2x 3-Pos TJC8 servo extension (300mm)

• 2x 3-Pos TJC8 servo extension (600mm)

Battery and accessories

• 1x 12V NiMH nested battery (3000mAh, 20A fuse, XT30)

• 1x Battery mount for 12V NiMH nested battery

• 100x Zip tie (100mm, black)

Battery Charger not included; we recommend the SkyRC multi-chemistry charger and required accessories

Channel

• 2x 1120 Series U-Channel (1 hole, 48mm)

• 1x 1120 Series U-Channel (2 hole, 72mm)

• 1x 1120 Series U-Channel (8 hole, 216mm)

• 2x 1120 Series U-Channel (10 hole, 264mm)

• 2x 1120 Series U-Channel (15 hole, 384mm)

• 2x 1121 Series Low-Side U-Channel (1 hole, 48mm)

• 2x 1121 Series Low-Side U-Channel (5 hole, 144mm)

• 2x 1121 Series Low-Side U-Channel (10 hole, 264mm)

• 2x 1143 Series Mini Low-Side U-Channel (3 hole, 96mm)

Brackets, mounts and grid plates

• 3x Clear polycarbonate grid plate (1.5mm, 5 × 44 hole, 40 × 352mm)

• 2x Clear polycarbonate grid plate (1.5mm, 11 × 44 hole, 88 × 352mm)

• 1x Clear polycarbonate grid plate (1.5mm, 27 × 44 hole, 216 × 352mm)

• 6x 1201 Series Quad Block Pattern Mount (43-2)

• 6x 1205 Series Dual Block Mount (1-5)

• 4x 1205 Series Dual Block Mount (2-1)

Standoffs and spacers

• 8x 1501 Series M4 × 0.7mm standoff (6mm OD, 43mm)

• 4x 1502 Series 4mm ID spacer (6mm OD, 11mm)

• 2x 1505 Series 32mm OD counterbored pattern spacer (8mm)

• 4x 1516 Series 8mm REX standoff (24mm)

• 4x 1516 Series 8mm REX standoff (43mm)

• 8x 1522 Series 8mm ID spacer (10mm OD, 12mm)

Gears, sprockets and chain

• 1x 2302 Series aluminium MOD 0.8 hub-mount gear (14mm bore, 100 tooth)

• 1x 2303 Series steel MOD 0.8 pinion gear (8mm REX bore, 20 tooth)

• 4x 2303 Series steel MOD 0.8 pinion gear (8mm REX bore, 30 tooth)

• 150x 3309 Series 8mm pitch plastic chain link

• 4x 3307 Series 8mm pitch steel set-screw sprocket (8mm REX bore, 10 tooth)

Wheels

• 7x GripForce Gecko Wheel (8mm REX bore, 48mm diameter)

• 2x GripForce Gecko Wheel (14mm bore, 72mm diameter)

• 16x Intake roller wheel (8mm REX, 16mm diameter, 16mm width, 30A)

• 2x 96mm omni wheel (14mm bore, 50A)

• 5x Hogback traction wheel (96mm diameter, 50A)

Bearings, shafting, hubs and collars

• 20x 1611 Series flanged ball bearing (8mm REX ID × 14mm OD, 5mm)

• 4x 1616 Series drop-centre bearing plate (2mm drop)

• 8x 8mm REX shaft with E-clip (stainless, 80mm)

• 1x 8mm REX shaft with E-clip (stainless, 240mm)

• 1x 8mm REX shaft with E-clip (stainless, 264mm)

• 6x 1309 Series Sonic Hub (8mm REX bore)

• 6x 1310 Series Hyper Hub (8mm REX bore)

• 4x 2920 Series steel set-screw collar (8mm REX bore)

Fasteners

• 50x M4 × 0.7mm socket head screw, 6mm

• 200x M4 × 0.7mm socket head screw, 8mm

• 100x M4 × 0.7mm socket head screw, 10mm

• 100x M4 × 0.7mm socket head screw, 12mm

• 25x M4 × 0.7mm socket head screw, 14mm

• 50x M4 × 0.7mm socket head screw, 18mm

• 25x M4 × 0.7mm socket head screw, 20mm

• 25x M4 × 0.7mm socket head screw, 30mm

• 200x 2812 Series nylon-insert locknut (M4 × 0.7mm, 7mm hex)

• 100x 2801 Series washer (4mm ID × 8mm OD)

• 36x 2807 Series stainless shim (8mm ID × 11mm OD, 0.50mm)

Tools

• 1x Wera 2.5mm ball-end Hex-Plus L-key

• 1x Wera 3mm ball-end Hex-Plus L-key

• 1x 7mm combination nut driver