FIRST Robotics Competition Practice Areas are
intended to allow teams to interact with representative FIELD elements and to
test their starting AUTO modes, they are not designed for multiple SCORING
ELEMENT AUTO modes or full FIELD play. Although some Practice Fields may
provide more space for additional strategy development, ample space for long
full FIELD interaction should not be expected. FIRST provides a
recommended layout, but events may need to tweak exact placement depending on
the space available in the venue. Teams should not relocate elements from their
original locations. The layout is specifically intended to discourage testing
of complex AUTO routines.
Practice Fields are tether-only except for some District
Championships and FIRST Championship which may choose to run a full
Field Management System on a Practice Field. For events that have full FIELDS
but are using tether, teams should expect that 2 teams are allowed on half the
field at a time. Practice Field Attendants may allow additional teams provided
teams are a safe distance from one another.
FIRST is providing a small set of production run
AprilTags for the Practice Field. The tags provided for the 2025 Practice Field
will include tags 1, 3, 5, and 6. Teams that wish to use other AprilTag IDs for
the Practice Fields may print copies of other tags to bring with them to events
but should not remove the provided tags. Printable copies of the field AprilTags
can be found on the 2025 Playing FIELD webpage.
FIRST is also providing a minimum of one “crosshatch”
pattern ALGAE which is representative of the ALGAE used on the competition
FIELD. Teams may not damage or remove it from the Practice Areas, as the supply
is limited. Additional crosshatch ALGAE may be available depending on supply.
CORAL is not provided and if a team wishes to practice with CORAL, they must
bring their own.
HUMAN PLAYERS are welcome to practice throwing ALGAE into
the Practice Field NET as long as the area around the BARGE is clear of other
ROBOTS and humans to avoid missed shots hitting people or interfering with
ROBOT testing. Priority is given to ROBOT practice over HUMAN PLAYER practice.
Teams choosing to practice throwing ALGAE must bring their own ALGAE; the
provided ALGAE are for ROBOT use only.