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.