Blair Bunnybots is a three-and-a-half-month build season in the fall that culminates in a daylong tournament. All FRC teams are invited to participate; the 2025 season drew 18 teams.
Modeled after FRC Team 1540's popular event, Bunnybots is an excellent opportunity for new team members to gain the skills needed to build an FRC-style robot, ending in a competition that allows them to show off their work and have fun at an event just for them.
2025 Bunnybots
For the 2025 season, 449 sought to design a game that would teach skills particularly desired by FIRST Chesapeake teams, so we asked prospective participants to suggest skills to focus on. The game rules were released on September 1, and team registration closed on November 1.
Game Manual v1.2 (Updated 11/1/2025. See Revision History section for Team Update 02)
Bunnybots Shinyapp: (Updated to Match 15. The data presented in the app should not be taken as true; quite a few inaccuracies skew results.)
Participants
FRC 449 - The Blair Robot Project (2 robots)
FRC 611: Saxons (2 robots)
FRC 686: Bovine Intervention
FRC 1915: Firebird Robotics
FRC 2537: Space RAIDers
FRC 2988: RoboRiot
FRC 4638: Jagbots
FRC 4821: CyberUs
FRC 5115: Knight Riders
FRC 5243: AEGIS
FRC 5338: RoboLoCo
FRC 5353: ACL Raptors
FRC 5549: Gryphon Robotics
FRC 5587: Titan Robotics
FRC 8230: KoiBots
FRC 8592: Newton Squared
FRC 8726: CryptoHawks
FRC 9033: Ocebots
Why Bunnybots?
In 2018, we faced a problem: with team veterans graduating and new rookies joining every year, how could we transform a fumbling collection of newbies into a coordinated, communicative unit within a short timeframe? Part of the answer: Bunnybots!
Inspired by Team 1540, we began hosting the annual Chesapeake Bunnybots: a district-wide preseason competition designed by our student leaders with a focus on rookie engagement and hands-on experience.
By having new members lead the way with the design, fabrication, and operation of the robot, teams can quickly expose rookies to the world of FRC. Our veteran subteam leaders guide rookies through the process during the preseason, showing them how problems are encountered and solved in real time. We can then confidently place the controllers in our rookies' capable hands on the day of the competition. Through Bunnybots, we improve our team's sustainability and give other local teams an opportunity to do the same.
Rookies
In the past, we found that rookie education was sometimes neglected in favor of veteran projects, which could leave new members unprepared for build season or uninterested in the team. Blair Bunnybots enables these students to learn hand machining, design basics, and other skills that will allow them to succeed during the intense build season.
Veterans
First-year veterans continue to develop technical skills during preseason, with a focus on CAD and the design process (CAD to prototype to final product, including iterations). Bunnybots are programmed by first-year veterans, building on their experience with small projects over the last preseason and build season. This prepares them to program the robot for teleop and autonomous. Our older veterans, who should have developed the design and technical skills they need in previous build seasons and pre/postseasons, should focus on learning to lead, manage projects, and delegate tasks.
Team
By working on a robot in the preseason, the team becomes better equipped to handle the rigor of build season. Team members from different grades and programs get to know one another better, which helps team dynamics. The focus on rookie education has increased retention rates and productivity, improving team sustainability.
Mentors
Blair Bunnybots is also a great way to get mentors engaged in preseason training, since the engineering challenge is more interesting than simple tool training. Mentors and students bond by working together, reducing friction during the build season.