RobotPy

Caleb Eby July 25, 2016

What's RobotPy, why are we trying it, and what is it good for?

RobotPy?

RobotPy lets FRC teams use Python for their robot code.

Why?

Previously, we had been using Java, but I prefer Python, so we decided try it out. RobotPy is supported by the FRC community, and it is very actively maintained. Its documentation is very good, and is more detailed than the WPILib Java documentation.

WPILib?

WPILib is the programming framework for FRC teams, for Java, C++, and LabView. It makes it easy for teams to implement motors, joysticks, sensors, and much more. RobotPy has an implementation of WPILib, almost identical to the official Java version, only for Python.

Problems

Although switching to Python is appealing, there are downsides. When we are at competition and when something breaks, there will probably not be anyone able to help, because there are only ~15 teams using RobotPy. However, the developers are usually very quick to respond to problems.

When?

We began putting this into use in the past week, and I just finished programming the prototype launcher with RobotPy, and the source is available on GitHub.