Offseason · Week 6 of 8

Autonomous & PathPlanner

Auto sequences, field coordinates, odometry, and PathPlanner.

Autonomous Period

During the 15-second auto period, the robot runs entirely on its own — no driver input. Your code must handle all movement, scoring, and positioning decisions using sensors and pre-planned paths.

java — simple auto command sequence

import static edu.wpi.first.wpilibj2.command.Commands.*;

Command getAutoCommand() {
    return sequence(
        new DriveForwardCommand(drive, 1.5),   // drive 1.5m
        parallel(
            new SpinUpShooterCommand(shooter),  // spin up while
            new WaitCommand(1.5)               // waiting 1.5s
        ),
        new ScoreCommand(shooter),             // shoot
        new DriveBackCommand(drive, 0.5)       // back off
    );
}

PathPlanner

PathPlanner is a tool for designing robot paths visually and following them precisely using odometry. Most competitive teams use it for complex multi-note or multi-piece autos.

java — PathPlanner auto

import com.pathplanner.lib.auto.AutoBuilder;
import com.pathplanner.lib.path.PathPlannerPath;

// Load a path created in PathPlanner app
PathPlannerPath path = PathPlannerPath.fromPathFile("2 Piece Auto");

// Follow it
Command autoCmd = AutoBuilder.followPath(path);

// Or build a named auto from PathPlanner
Command namedAuto = AutoBuilder.buildAuto("2 Piece Center");

Auto Chooser

java — RobotContainer auto chooser

private final SendableChooser<Command> autoChooser = new SendableChooser<>();

public RobotContainer() {
    autoChooser.setDefaultOption("Do Nothing", new WaitCommand(15));
    autoChooser.addOption("Drive Forward", new DriveForwardCommand(drive, 1.5));
    autoChooser.addOption("2 Piece", AutoBuilder.buildAuto("2 Piece Center"));
    SmartDashboard.putData("Auto Mode", autoChooser);
}

public Command getAutonomousCommand() {
    return autoChooser.getSelected();
}

Knowledge Check

← Previous O5 — PID Control Next → O7 — Subsystem Ownership