FRC Terms

Sometimes, people in robotics sound like they're speaking gibberish, so I will explain some of the FRC terms here. If not listed, I may have explained the term somewhere else in greater detail, so you can search for it.

While some are listed here, you can view more design-specific definitions at frcdesign.org.

Term	Meaning
CAD	Computer Aided Design, where teams design their robots.
Browning Out	When a robot tries to draw more power than the battery can be supplied, typically this looks like jittering with irregular RSL flashing.
RSL	The Robot Signal Light, an orange light on every robot. When it blinks, the robot is enabled, when it's solid the robot is powered, but disabled.
RP	Ranking Points, this is what determines team placement for playoffs.
Co-op	Short for "Coopertition," which is one of FIRST's core values. Games often have "Co-op" bonuses that robots can earn, which is used as a tiebreaker if needed.
Archetype	An idea for the design of a robot or robot subsystems.
Subsystem	One of the systems on a robot, such as the Drivetrain/Intake/Elevator/Shooter/Arm/Wrist/Manipulator (examples at frcdesign.org).
Drivetrain	The base of a robot, includes the bellypan, wheels, and driving systems for the wheels.
Bellypan	The plate at the base of a robot where subsystems and electronics sit, not used on every robot.
Swerve	Swerve is a drivetrain type that consists of "modules" each having independent turning and driving, allowing omnidirectional movement, now the standard in FRC (examples at frcdesign.org).
Tank / West Coast / Differential Drive	Drivetrains that have two sets of wheels (typically six total), driven on the left and right sides of the robot. Capable of forward/backward movement and turning, but is outmatched by swerve in most cases (examples at frcdesign.org).
Intake	The part of a robot that picks up game pieces.
Telescope	A linear extension mechanism that has multiple stages stored inside of each other (examples at frcdesign.org).
Elevator	A linear extension mechanism with multiple external stages (examples at frcdesign.org).
Shooter	The part of a robot responsible for launching game pieces into scoring locations.
Arm	A long pivoting mechanism that typically has some sort of manipulator at the end.
Wrist	Typically used to describe arm-like mechanisms that are short.
Manipulator	A part of the robot that grasps game pieces in some way, most of the time utilizes wheels or rollers.
End Effector	A manipulator, but more specifically the part that scores a game object.
Degree of Freedom / DOF	A pivot or extension mechanism on a robot, such as an Arm/Wrist/Elevator/Telescope. This excludes wheels or rollers.