ROBOTICON Tampa Bay 2026, our signature Manufacturing Month event, is on the calendar for October at
the new Hillsborough County Public Schools- Foundation for Community Driven Innovation (HCPS-FCDI) STEM Center! Launched in January of this year during the FIRST Robotics Competition 2026 kick-off as a collaborative effort of the Hillsborough County School District and the nonprofit FCDI, which powers ROBOTICON Tampa Bay, as well as AMRoC Fab Lab and Gulf Coast MakerCon, the new STEM Center houses FCDI’s big FIRST Robotics Competition field, as well as FIRST Tech Challenge REC Foundation and Aerial Drone Competition fields.
In addition to serving as competition, education and practice space for middle and high school competitive robotics and drone programs, the STEM Center supports the development of elementary robotics and mechatronics education programming, as well as providing professional development opportunities for Hillsborough County teachers and educators statewide, training for robotics program volunteers, coaches and mentors, and proudly serves as the new home for ROBOTICON.
Currently scheduled events are:
- October 10 – FIRST Tech Challenge BioBuzz Scrimmage (free for ROBOT League teams)
- October 17 & 18 – FIRST Robotics Competition Off-Season Rebuilt Scrimmage (expected fee: $350/team)
- October 24 – RECF Aerial Drone Competition tournament (expected fee: $75/team)
Other events – like combat, and RECF middle and high school competitions – will be listed as they come online through the summer. Interested teams can pre-register HERE to be first in line when formal registration opens in July.
You can learn more about scheduled tournaments on our Robot Games page. Sponsorship and Volunteer registration information can also be found in the relevant sections of the website.
Spectator information will be available later this summer.