Calculating gains manually vs using sysid

[Joel_Singh]

Hi! I’m new to using feedforward and I’m wondering the pros and cons of calculating the gains manually as described in each of the tuning articles on the wpilib documentation (here’s the arm one for example: Tuning a Vertical Arm Position Controller — FIRST Robotics Competition documentation) vs running each robot mechanism through sysid

Thanks in advance, I hope to hear experiences to avoid common issues and wasting time.

[Oblarg]

SysId is potentially much faster and more accurate, but has a higher barrier to entry.

You can also use ReCalc to estimate gains easily.

[Joel_Singh]

Okay, thank you! And also thank you for letting me know about recalc.