LEFT BRAIN · MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL PATH
Mechanical & Electrical Building Learning Path
Seven chapters. Seven videos. One book. By the end you’ll know how to design, build, wire, and troubleshoot an FTC robot from the frame up.
The Book This Path Is Built On
Your Guide to Excel in FIRST Tech Challenge
Robot Architecture, Design, Programming and Game Strategies
By Rajeev Dwivedi, PhD & Sanjeev Dwivedi
A practical primer and reference for FTC teams, coaches, and mentors. The Dwivedi brothers walk through every layer of designing a competition robot — different drive types, robot architecture, and design of the robot as a system — before moving into programming, PID controllers, sensors, and movement design in the second half. Rajeev is a PhD Robotics and Automation Engineer; Sanjeev has coached numerous FTC, FLL, and VEX teams to World Championships.
IMPORTANT — HEADS-UP
This learning path uses the first half of the book only — the mechanical and electrical chapters. The second half of the book covers programming, and we will not be using it. Java programming has its own dedicated learning path on the team site. Focus your reading on chapters 1 through 7.
Get Yourself a Copy of the Book
Every team member completing this learning path is expected to have a copy of the book in hand. The videos walk through the chapters — they are not a replacement for reading. You can’t watch a building tutorial without the diagrams in front of you.
BORROW FROM US
We have four team copies available.
If buying isn’t in the cards right now, you’re welcome to check out one of our copies for the season — you don’t have to buy the book to do this path. Just ask a mentor. First-come, first-served while we have copies on the shelf.
How This Learning Path Works
For each chapter: read it, watch the recorded video, then put what you learned to work on the robot. The videos are screen-recorded walkthroughs of each chapter, roughly 30 minutes long.
The Seven Chapters at a Glance
Here’s the full path. Completed videos are marked. Check back as more chapters drop — we are recording them one at a time across the summer.
Chapter 2 — Video Ready
CHAPTER 2 · STATUS: VIDEO READY
[Add chapter title from the book here]
Estimated video length: ~30 minutes
What This Chapter Covers
[Add 2-3 sentences from the book about what Chapter 2 teaches and the key concepts students should walk away with.]
What You Should Be Able to Do After
- [Skill or task #1 from the chapter]
- [Skill or task #2 from the chapter]
- [Skill or task #3 from the chapter]
Stuck? Confused? Curious?
Bring it to the next meeting, drop it in the team chat, or email team@fc-robotics.org for a one-on-one remote-desktop session.
Chapter [N] — Template (Copy 1 of 2)
CHAPTER [N] · STATUS: [VIDEO READY / COMING SOON]
[Add chapter title from the book here]
Estimated video length: ~30 minutes
What This Chapter Covers
[Add 2-3 sentences from the book about what this chapter teaches and the key concepts students should walk away with.]
What You Should Be Able to Do After
- [Skill or task #1 from the chapter]
- [Skill or task #2 from the chapter]
- [Skill or task #3 from the chapter]
Stuck? Confused? Curious?
Bring it to the next meeting, drop it in the team chat, or email team@fc-robotics.org for a one-on-one remote-desktop session.
Chapter [N] — Template (Copy 2 of 2)
CHAPTER [N] · STATUS: [VIDEO READY / COMING SOON]
[Add chapter title from the book here]
Estimated video length: ~30 minutes
What This Chapter Covers
[Add 2-3 sentences from the book about what this chapter teaches and the key concepts students should walk away with.]
What You Should Be Able to Do After
- [Skill or task #1 from the chapter]
- [Skill or task #2 from the chapter]
- [Skill or task #3 from the chapter]
Stuck? Confused? Curious?
Bring it to the next meeting, drop it in the team chat, or email team@fc-robotics.org for a one-on-one remote-desktop session.
START WITH CHAPTER ONE
Build robots that don’t fall apart.
Get the book. Watch the videos. Apply it to the build. That’s the path.