I wouldn't say that the FIRST community contains a *vast* amount of control
theory. Most teams use PID since it's "good enough" for first-order feedback, but precision control is usually derived from multiple sensors and proper pole/zero selection from the imaginary plane. How you set your constraints determines what regions you can select the poles/zeros from, and then some math will give you the 2nd or 3rd order equations (based upon the # of sensors) with exact coefficients. Running the driver control input will result in the desired motor output with behavior that is easily observable and reconfigurable by looking at the z-plane.
Ok, so maybe we know a bit about it but there aren't any white papers in CD-media
. I only took an intro course in college on it.