FTC 4410's 2026 World Championship Robot

September 2025 - April 2026 (12th Grade)

• Robot developed for the 2025-2026 FIRST Tech Challenge Season, “DECODE”
• Competition Results:
  • Represented Massachusetts at the FIRST World Championship for the second consecutive year.
  • Earned 2nd Place Inspire Award at the 2026 FIRST Championship, one of the highest overall honors in FIRST Tech Challenge out of 8000+ teams internationally.
  • Competed with a robot designed for rapid full-field shooting, automatic color sorting, defensive durability, and highly automated operation.
• Three Primary Objectives:
  • Rapidly collect “Artifacts” from the field and store up to three inside the robot.
  • Identify each Artifact’s color, arrange shots into the required “MOTIF” sequence, and launch Artifacts into the goal from anywhere on the field.
  • Score additional endgame points by lifting the robot high enough for an alliance partner to park beneath it—or continue cycling Artifacts when that strategy produces more points.

Robot Features:

• Rigid Aluminum Drivetrain: Replaced the original plywood frame with a custom chassis constructed from pocketed 1/8" 6061 aluminum, adding 15 lb for greater rigidity, collision resistance, and the ability to withstand aggressive defense.
• Dual-Row Wheel & Surgical-Tubing Intake: Collects three Artifacts in 0.19 seconds. Tubing durometer, length, ramp geometry, and motor power were experimentally optimized for rapid and reliable collection.
• Frindexer Color-Sorting System: Custom three-slot storage mechanism using six color-and-distance sensors and three independently controlled servo kickers to identify, store, select, and shoot Artifacts in the correct MOTIF sequence.
  • Increased kicking consistency from 14.2% to 99.7% through more than 100 component iterations.
  • Integrated intake rollers reduced the force required to funnel an Artifact from 28 N to 2.3 N, a 92% decrease.
  • Allows the robot to intake Artifacts in any order and automatically determine the correct shooting sequence.
• 360° Turret: Rotates through a full revolution in 0.45 seconds, allowing the shooter to remain aimed at the goal independently of the drivetrain’s orientation.
• Dual-Flywheel Shooter: Two flywheels spinning at up to 6,000 RPM, combined with an adjustable hood, provide a range exceeding 15 ft, 99.2% shot consistency, and approximately ±0.5" precision.
  • Added flywheel weights increased rotational inertia to 283.85 kg·mm², reducing recovery time between consecutive shots by 62%.
  • Enables rapid-fire scoring without requiring the robot to stop moving or face the goal.
• Endgame Lift Development: Developed a two-stage linear-slide lift producing 270 N of force and raising the robot 19 inches in under seven seconds.
  • Used 3:4 gearing, smaller cable spools, reversible ratchets, carbon-fiber supports, and mechanically linked axles.
  • Reduced lift current draw by 56% while improving stability and allowing the robot to maintain its height without continuous motor power.
  • Removed the lift before the World Championship after strategic analysis showed that continued Artifact cycling would score more points.
  • Removing the lift reduced cycle time by 16% and enabled five additional cycles worth 45 points.
• Advanced Control Stack:
  • Four-Stage Auto-Aim System combining dead-wheel odometry, IMU heading, and AprilTag camera localization with turret control, shooter-speed calculation, predictive feedforward, and ballistic compensation.
  • Turret PID Control continuously tracks the goal while the drivetrain moves and rotates.
  • Distance-Based Shooter Interpolation calculates the required flywheel velocity and hood position based on the robot’s location.
  • Predictive Feedforward compensates for drivetrain movement so the robot can accurately shoot while driving.
  • Ballistic Velocity Compensation adjusts the launch solution based on the robot’s translational velocity.
  • Configurable Autonomous Architecture capable of generating approximately 3.9 million possible routines from reusable path and action segments.
  • 18-Artifact Color-Sorted Autonomous capable of scoring 75 points and a 24-Artifact Autonomous capable of scoring 93 points.
  • Distributed Sensor Processing reduced the main control-loop time from approximately 210 ms to 22 ms, stabilizing drivetrain localization, turret control, and automated actions.
• Sensor and Driver-Assistance Systems: Integrates 20 sensors across six sensor types, including color-and-distance sensors, encoders, an IMU, cameras, and limit detection.
  • RGB displays communicate Artifact colors and storage status to the drive team.
  • Controller vibration alerts drivers when Artifacts are collected or the robot requires attention.
  • Automatic over-intake prevention stops the intake once all three Frindexer slots are occupied.
  • One-button shooting automatically selects and launches Artifacts in the correct color sequence, substantially reducing driver workload.