Required Tools for Development

To program an FRC Robot and follow along with this website, you need WPILib tools, Git and a Github account.

WPILib tools

The first tool that needs to be installed is the WPILib tool package. WPILib’s tool package includes a version of VSCode that allows teams to write code and deploy it to their robot. To do so, follow the instructions linked here. The WPILib tool package also includes different programs that are useful for data logging, simulation, dashboards, and more. We will use some of these tools in later stages.

Driver Station

If you intend to control a physical robot, you may also need to install the game tools. This installs the Driver Station, a program that is used to connect to the robot in order to run it. Instructions can be found here, but this is not necessary at this point in time.

git

The next tool is Git. Git is a version control system that is used in FRC because it allows teams to keep track of changes made to the robot’s code throughout the build and competition season. It can also help teams manage their robot code through the various features that GitHub has such as Pull Requests, Issues and Project boards. Git can be installed using the instructions located here.

Creating a GitHub account

Github is a website that hosts Git repositories and allows people to collaborate on code. It’s commonly used in FRC because it’s free and easily accessible, in addition to being an industry standard.

For many of the lessons on this website, it will be necessary to have a GitHub account. One can be can be created here. It’s also recommended to sign up for the GitHub student developer pack, this will give you access to a variety of resources.