Build a PushBot Instructions


Team #2843 Under the Son
A year ago FIRST Tech Challenge announced the release of a step-by-step guide to building a competition-ready robot, a project we called the PushBot. The robot was designed, built, and programmed by FTC teams (MATRIX by Team #003 from Australia and TETRIX by Team #2843 in Maryland, USA) to provide rookie FTC teams with easy instructions to build a basic competition-ready robot. The guide was clear, easy to follow, and included lots of pictures. Last year we saw many modified PushBot robots competing at FTC events all over the country.

The move to the new Android-Based Technology made the old PushBot Guide obsolete, but Team #2843 Under the Son came to the rescue, willingly taking on the challenge of modifying the robot to include the new technology as well as re-writing the guide from top to bottom. Like every FTC team this season, they had to learn how to use Android Studio, App Inventor, and program with Java, and since they were one of the first teams to use the technology, they have helped us make improvements to it.

The new PushBot!
The team dedicated many hours over the last four months, and we are now excited to share the initial release of the updated PushBot Build Guide with the FTC community! What you will find in this guide are step-by-step instructions on how to build and program the PushBot with the parts that come in the TETRIX Kit of Parts and using the Android-Based technology. In addition, you will find the OpModes for the PushBot are available in Android Studio, so you do not have to re-create them (instructions on how to access and use them are in the Build Guide).

The PushBot Build Guide is being released in two versions: a full PDF file and a downloadable .zip folder containing the manual divided up into six sections to make for easy use by various work groups on the team: Getting Started (includes Appendices), Building the Robot, Programming the Robot, Integrating the OpModes and Electronics, Wiring the Robot, and Testing the Robot.


Whether your team is a rookie team or a veteran team, the PushBot Guide is an incredible resource for learning basic robot building and programming skills, and instructions on using the new FTC Android-Based Technology. Summer reading and homework has been assigned and we will see how you did on the competition field in just a few months!

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