Kickoff

Kickoff is the event that signifies the start of the yearly FIRST Robotics Competition season and includes the release of that year's challenge. The game, playing field, robot rules, and kit of parts items for that year are released at a mix of physical and virtual events. In the early days, kickoff was a single physical event that team representatives would attend to pick up the kit of parts and see the playing field hands-on. As FIRST grew, local kickoff events and internet broadcasts became more common, with animated game explanations and encoded game manuals released as part of the event. After kickoff, teams traditionally have six weeks to develop and build their robots before competition season begins. Media related to any kickoff events are tagged kickoff in the FRC Archive.

1994

Kickoff for the 1994 season was held at FIRST headquarters in Nashua, New Hampshire on January 7th, 1994. Attendees were introduced to the Tower Power rules, kit of parts, and the playing field. A presentation about the 1993 Texas BEST (then NT BEST) competition "PVC Insanity" and the Sherman High team was also shown and lunch was provided.

Dean Kamen presenting the 1994 field [1]

1996

1996's kickoff workshop took place on February 10, 1996. Baxter Healthcare Corporation and Lockheed-Martin were the official sponsors of the workshop^[1]. A robot that was likely built during the development of the 1996 game was present and demonstrated elements of the game on the model field, which used different colors than the "official" competition field. The 1996 ESPN special included a short section of interviews and footage from the kickoff event.

Additional photos on the FRC Archive
Woodie Flowers speaking at the 1996 kickoff event [2]
Teams inspecting kits of parts[3]
The example robot and field [4]

1997

The 1997 Kickoff event was held on January 11, 1997 at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire. Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers were both in attendance.

Additional photos on the FRC Archive
The crowd watching the kickoff presentation [5]
Dean Kamen and the control system on stage [6]
The 1997 playing field at kickoff [7]

1998

The 1998 Kickoff reception was held on January 9, 1998. At the reception, videos from several previous seasons were shown, and Dean Kamen read out the New Miracle on East 55th Street letter from team 120.