FRC Glossary

accelerometer

A common sensor used to measure acceleration in one or more axis.

alliance

A cooperative of up to four (4) FIRST® Robotics Competition teams.

auto

The first phase of each match is called Autonomous (auto) and consists of the first fifteen (0:15) seconds.

COTS

Commercial off the shelf, a standard (i.e. not custom order) part commonly available from a vendor to all teams for purchase.

C++

One of the three officially supported programming languages.

deprecated

Software that will be maintained for at least 1 year, but may be removed after that.

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, the protocol that allows a central device to assign unique IP addresses to all other devices.

FMS

Field Management System, the electronics core responsible for sensing and controlling the FIRST Robotics Competition field.

GradleRIO

The mechanism that powers the deployment of robot code to the roboRIO.

gyroscope

A device that measures rate of rotation. It can add up the rotation measurements to determine heading of the robot. (“gyro”, for short)

heading

The direction the robot is pointed, usually expressed as an angle in degrees.

IMU

Inertial Measurement Unit, a sensor that combines both an accelerometer and a gyroscope into a single sensor.

Java

One of the three officially supported programming languages.

KOP

Kit of Parts, the collection of items listed on the Kickoff Kit checklists, distributed to the team via FIRST Choice, or paid for completely (except shipping) with a Product Donation Voucher (PDV).

KOP chassis

The AM14U4 chassis distributed to every team (that did not opt out) as part of the KOP.

LabVIEW

One of the three officially supported programming languages.

match

A two (2) minute and thirty (30) second period of time in which an alliance plays a FRC game.

NetworkTables

A way to communicate key / value pairs, of data, between programs.

RP

Ranking Point, a way of ordering teams rewarding specific objectives in addition to winning the match.

simulation

A way for teams to test their code without having an actual robot available.

teleop

The second phase of each match is called the Teleoperated Period (teleop) and consists of drivers controlling their robots.

trajectory

A trajectory is a smooth curve, with velocities and accelerations at each point along the curve, connecting two endpoints on the field.