GEAR Up

GEAR Up Domains (as of Sept 2026)

What is GEAR Up?

GEAR Up is an initiative within FRC Team 2181 GEARS to onboard new students, pass down knowledge from experienced team members to new members, and provide experienced members a pathway to true expertise in specific FIRST Robotics related domains.

How it Works

Team members are expected to complete all tasks on the "Intro Level 1" badge requirement list. They complete the tasks while being coached by experience team members. Periodically, they check in with a mentor to get the tasks "checked off". Once they have completed all Level 1 tasks, they receive a badge.
Team members complete 3 other Level 1 badges in different domains of their choosing (so they have 4 total Level 1s complete). Then, they can move on to Level 2.
Team members work on completing Level 2, 3, and 4 badges from there on.
As team members complete badges, they receive 3D printed pins that they can attach to their team banada (or anywhere they like). The badges get progressively more intricate as you "GEAR Up".

GEAR Up Domains (as of Sept 2026)

Below are the Domains or Badges or Cogs or whatever we end up calling them haha. These are the categories we're starting with since they correspond directly with our SubTeam structure.

Level 1 is intended to be finished in 2-4 hours of direct work time and mentorship from experienced students. We hope to have new team members complete around 4 badges in the Sept - Dec time frame so they're ready for Build Season to work on Level 2 tasks.
Level 2 is intended to be finished within 1 school year (or more depending on level of commitment).
Level 3 is intended to be finished in 2-3 years.
Level 4 is intended to be a "Capstone" achievement that only a few, truly outstanding students are able to complete.

Intro
- Level 1, 2
Leadership
- Level 1-4

Scouting/Strategy
- Level 1-4
Business
- Level 1-4
Media
- Level 1-4
Safety/FMEA
- Level 1-4

CAD
- Level 1-4
Programming
- Level 1-4
Electrical
- Level 1-4
Build
- Level 1-4

Why GEAR Up?

Our team has explored a variety of early season training methods since 2022. We've tried slideshow teaching, making "random" projects, and just throwing people into the deep end (among others). All of these methods have merit but given the new student growth our team has had in recent years, they just were not cutting it based on team member feedback.

Our team also wants to provide a structured way (but not too structured!) for experienced team members to gain expertise in a variety of specialties.

We feel that the structure provided by the pathways, the active learning involved with the tasks, and the "game-ified" push of leveling up will provide a more dynamic, teaching-centered culture for our team. We'll update as we learn more and refine the process.

Resources

Acknowledgement: This idea is borrowed from Howdy Bots and FIRST Badges. We lean heavily on the work they've shared.
Link to Main Folder.
Full disclosure: This is a work in progress and our team will continue to modify and adjust as we test and learn more.

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