paper: PID Control Theory for FRC Programming

[tseres]

ya..i know it's not easy, but it is worth it. this year we didn't really have any PID, but the driving was sort of "software controlled". the only problem is we didn't have any sensors and our robot can't go straight. lately i have been developing omni code potentially for next year that uses a gyroscope. we dont need any encoders because the gyroscope algorithms/functions we made will automatically correct for any motor error.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by tseres

...the only problem is we didn't have any sensors...

The entire basis of a PID control routine is the ability to sense what's going on and take action to make it match what is desired. Without sensors, you can't have any sort of closed-loop feedback control.

...we dont need any encoders because the gyroscope algorithms/functions we made will automatically correct for any motor error.

Gyroscopes are fine for rotational sensing, but without encoders, how is the robot going to know how fast or how far it's moving?

[Salik Syed]

I guess if all they really want to control is orientation that shouldn't matter.

But on the topic of the paper : great idea, I think the community needed a simple down-to-earth explanation. I know it was pretty overwhelming sophmore year trying to figure it out on my own without any real programming experience or calculus experience.

I also like how you gave a lot of ideas for applications, that is very useful... alot of people think PID is just useful for moving arms and such but it can be used for a lot of other things !