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Do I need this?

Whether you are an experienced team or a complete rookies, you need to install the latest and greatest from FIRST. Things change every year!

What can you skip? Nothing. There is lots of software to install and configure. Are you a driver, or a developer - or BOTH!

Here is an overview of all of the software components used in FRC.

For Coders and Driver Stations

Install:

  • Java

  • Development Tools

The Toronto Coding collective uses the Java programming language and the WPILib plugins for Java coding.

It is advised that the development environment be installed on the Driver Station laptop in order to allow for quick fixes at the tournament.

If the development environment is not installed on the DriverStation laptop, the Shuffleboard dashboard and Outline Viewer software components can be copied manually from the developer laptop to the driver's laptop.


For Driverstations only (step 2)

Install:

  • Driver Station

  • Robot Configuration Tools

The driver station and FRC tooling are required to Drive the Robot.

The Tools are also used to configure the RoboRio and radio, and to update firmware on the robot. These tools are only supported in a Windows Environment!

Software Developers do not need these tools to develop and deploy code, however, they need to know how the robot is configured (what components are plugged in where) in order to write robot code!

The Driver's laptop will also need the SmartDashboard and Outline viewer which are distributed with the Development Tools. The Driver Laptop needs the development tools installed before the Driverstation tools.