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Glossary

Let's be real, the nomen clature around control theory is incredibly intimidating at first; it should't be like this. Also this is not in alphabetical order lol.
  1. 1.
    Reference - The target position we would like to be at. This is often used interchangably with other terms such as set point or target.
  2. 2.
    Gain - A value we multiply by another value. In a PID controller Kp, Ki, and Kd are "gains"
  3. 3.
    Feedback - a process where given a measurement and a desired state we calculate the best input to reach the state. A synonym for closed-loop control
  4. 4.
    Feedforward - a process where given just a desired state we calculate the best input to reach the state. A synonym for open-loop control
  5. 5.
    PID control - A type of feedback control with three main components. A proportional, an integral, and a derivative.
  6. 6.
    Integral - the sum of a signal over time
  7. 7.
    Derivative - the rate of change of a singal
  8. 8.
    Full State Feedback - a feedback control method that is basically just a bunch of proportional controllers strapped together.
  9. 9.
    State - where our system currently is, usually a combination of position / velocity.
  10. 10.
    Roadrunner - A library for First Tech Challenge that incorperates a ton of really powerful control techniques. It has built in localization (using drive encoders or dead wheels), trajectory generation, and trajectory following algorithms
  11. 11.
    Path - a set of points that makes up where our robot should be in space. Usually traversed through by the robots current position.
  12. 12.
    Trajectory - a set of position and velocity points, usually indexed by the given time.
  13. 13.
    State machine - a way to code your robots that emulates asynchronous behavior but without the side effects.