There is a great amount of detail about XRP within the XRP User Guide.
XRP, or the Experimental Robotics Platform, was created by a coalition of companies to provide a low-cost entry point into robotics. It is a great way to introduce students to STEM through hands-on building, programming, and problem-solving.
We use XRP from a competition standpoint. In 2025, we purchased about 6 kits to host a robotics summer camp, and we found that they were a fantastic way to help students get their feet wet in robotics. In 2026, we expanded that effort by hosting both a summer camp and a separate XRP Challenge.
Because the default XRP software is geared more toward general learning and classroom use, we decided to expand the software to better support a competition-style robotics environment.
XRP is a robotics platform built from 3D-printed parts, electronics, and a compact controller based on a SparkFun-modified Raspberry Pi Pico.
An XRP kit can be purchased from SparkFun or DigiKey.
The XRP platform is simple enough for beginners to learn quickly, while still being flexible enough to support more advanced programming and competition-based projects.
For us, XRP fills an important role as an accessible robotics platform for camps, beginner programs, and lightweight competitions. It lowers the barrier to entry for students while still allowing teams to grow into more advanced programming concepts and competition-style control systems.
That combination of affordability, simplicity, and flexibility made it a strong fit for both our summer camp and our XRP Challenge.
