One fun aspect to the FTC robotics culture is a that each team will have a “theme”. Most teams (and all the successful ones) have a strong team identity that is most prominently displayed by their team uniform. Here are some examples:
Team 4634 is FROGBots – FIRST Robotics of Gainsville. They all wear green shirts with the team logo and purple fedoras. I believe the green hat symbolizes a position of honor for the team (drive team or captain), and I’m not sure if there is any significance for the hat feathers.
RoboLords is FTC 11112 out of Ashburn, VA. Their uniform consists of a black t-shirt with team name and some identifying graphic. And they all wear a gold crown.
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The Tuxedo Pandas FTC 4924 is a team that consistently advances to World’s. The shirt is actually just a plain black t-shirt with single color screen printing to resemble a tuxedo. The males all wear black pants, and the females all wear black and white striped stockings under black shorts. Then the hats – all I can say is those fuzzy panda heads must get hot during competitions!
In all cases above, the teams honor their sponsors by including company logos or names on the shirt backs. Several teams use the hats as a way to display the FTC Game pins for the seasons in which the individual has participated.
Michael and I have taken all this into consideration, while trying to honor the New Kent community by recognizing the outdoor activities of hunting and fishing. We have tentatively settled on the uniform to the right. The pattern of the shirt and hat is called “digital camo”. As you can see, the “hunter orange” really pops, and single color screen printing is significantly cheaper than multi- or full-color. I am showing this mock-up with the New Kent Robotics logo, but we will design a front that incorporates the final name for the FTC team. Our thought is that team members will wear blue jeans with this (we may change to tan khakis or chinos in the future). I’ve priced out these options, and this should come to about $30 per team member. Also, family and friends will be able to purchase a shirt to show team support, but the hat will distinguish team members from supporters during competitions.
