ROBOTICON 2026 First Robotics Competition Off-Season

ROBOTICON 2026 is back at the AMRoC Fab Lab this Saturday, October 17, as part of a monthlong STEM showcase that takes over every weekend in October. This particular day is a FIRST Robotics Competition off-season tournament, so you'll see high school teams bringing their robots to the field to compete.

If you're not familiar with the name, ROBOTICON is the signature Manufacturing Month event of the Foundation for Community Driven Innovation (FCDI), a nonprofit that runs the whole series alongside AMRoC Fab Lab and Gulf Coast MakerCon. It's now in its 14th season, and it's grown quite a bit since it started in 2013 as a single-day FIRST Robotics Competition off-season tournament. These days it's a monthlong STEM showcase that fills every October weekend with different youth robotics, drone, and related competitions, reaching more than 1,500 young people throughout the month.

This year's event is held at the new HCPS-FCDI STEM Center, which opened in January 2026 as a joint effort between the Hillsborough County School District and FCDI. The center is built for this kind of thing: it houses a FIRST Robotics Competition field, as well as FIRST Tech Challenge and Aerial Drone Competition fields. When there isn't a tournament running, it serves as education and practice space for middle and high school programs, supports elementary robotics and mechatronics, offers professional development for Hillsborough County teachers statewide, and trains volunteers, coaches, and mentors.

It's a great way to see what high school robotics looks like up close, and since it's part of a larger month of events, this is just one of the weekends you can catch. The tournament runs from 10 AM to 5 PM at the AMRoC Fab Lab, and admission is free.