FRC Kit of Parts Supplier Toolkit

Supplier Documents and Links


2012 Supplier Opportunities Document

2012 Recognition Report

Link to IRS Form 8283 & Instructions

Guidelines for 2012 FIRST Championship Book
Recognition Spots

Design Specs for 2012 FIRST Championship Book Recognition Spots

2011 FIRST Championship Book PDF
Note: this is a large file (27 MB).

Supplier Listing on FRC Site

Kit of Parts Website

Supplier Forum

Contact Kate

Contact Collin

What do we need help with?

Product donations (Sensors, motors, etc)

One of the ways in which the FRC is unique is in the Kit of Parts that teams receive at Kickoff. Despite the introduction of FIRST Choice, and the migration of kit materials to the FIRST Choice model, we still value delivering items to teams at the Kickoff. By maintaining a surprise package for teams to open at Kickoff, we’re maintaining one of the core tenets of FIRST – all teams get surprise items in a kit at Kickoff. To get an idea for items we’ve included in the past, please check out the 2011 Kit of Parts Checklist. If you have items you think are appropriate for this application (new technology you want to showcase to all teams, excess inventory, slightly out-of-spec items, etc), please don’t hesitate to contact us!

  • Qty required: 2,500 for 2012 season, more for 2013 season
  • Due date: 10/31/11 for the 2012 season, 10/31/12 for the 2013 season.

 Product Donation Vouchers

One of the new ways of getting parts to teams is called a Product Donation Voucher, or PDV. Suppliers who want to donate to teams via the kit, but would like to extend item choices to teams, may do so via a PDV. It allows teams to visit the supplier’s site and order parts compliant with the PDV. Such a donation negates the need to bulk ship inventory to FIRST. Suppliers of PDVs must be prepared to accommodate 100% PDV usage, and the content of the PDV must be approved by FIRST. Also, the PDV must be able to accommodate free items for teams (for example, a PDV for $20, when the least expensive useful item is $120 is really a $20-off coupon and thus inducement to buy – which we avoid per IRS guidelines). If you think this model is appropriate for your organization, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

  • Qty required: 2,500 for 2012 season, more for 2013 season
  • Due date: 10/31/11 for the 2012 season, 10/31/12 for the 2013 season.

 Computers for Kinect stations

Our most urgent and specific need for the 2012 season is for computers to support the competition. Here are the basic (very basic J) system requirements for the need we have:

  • Qty required: 63
  • Due Date: 12/31/11
  • At least a Celeron-ish processor (I don’t know if there’s anything on the market that’s too slow for our application, it’s very basic)
  • At least 16GB hard drive (Flash or locking hard drive preferred, the environment isn’t always delicate)
  • At least a 15” display
  • At least 1 Ethernet port
  • No OS necessary as we can image the machines ourselves.

If you think your organization can help with this need or for more information, please contact us!

Logistic expertise

FRC has made several steps toward improving scalability of the Kit of Parts over the last few years. If your company would like to offer expertise in logistics and material handling, we appreciate all input, from expert feedback and recommendations to in-kind donation of services.

New Radio support

FRC is constantly looking to advance the communication infrastructure used for communication between robots and their driver stations at our events. If your company is interested in partnering with FIRST to enhance this part of FRC, please contact Matt Pilotte for details.

Technical Volunteers

Volunteers are the protein to the FRC experience and FRC wouldn’t be feasible without them. We request that companies encourage their technical employees to consider participating in a volunteer role. Click here for more information.  The technical roles for which we need help include:

Important Dates


10/28/2011 - Items for Kits due to NH


10/28/2011 - Items for FIRST Choice due to IN

10/28/2011 - Recognition Reports due

10/28/2011 - Supplier Logos due

11/25/2011 - Information on Kickoff Workshops due

12/01/2011 - Recognition Spots for Championship Book due

1/07/2012 - FRC Kickoff

3/2/2012 - Reservations for Supplier Showcase due

4/26-4/28/2012 - FIRST Championship, St. Louis, MO

5/18/2012 - 2014 FRC Game Design idea due

8/31/2012 - Items due for co-brand with FRC totes

Summer 2012 - Supplier Summit (exact date TBD)