Know Your Lingo

Many teams may be unfamiliar with the various terms and slang that are often thrown around at competitions and meets. Here we have compiled a guide of some commonly used terms to get you up to speed.

Competitions

Program Delivery Partner (PDP)

Director or directors for events and activities in a region. Used to be referred to as the Affiliate Partner (AP).

Qualifier

Tournament with 5-6 qualifying matches and best-of-three alliance elimination matches. Judging included. Will advance to States/Regional level.

League Meet

Low-stress competition with matches counting towards league rank at a League Tournament. No judging.

League Tournament

Tournament with ranked matches and alliance elimination matches for teams participating in that League. Judging included. Will advance to States/Regional level. Sometimes called a “League Championship”.

Alliance

Group of two or, in eliminations, two or three teams that compete. In elimination matches each team must play at least once.

Ranking Points (RP)

Primary basis in rankings at traditional events. For the Power Play season, each team receives 2 RP for winning a qualification match, 1 for tieing, and 0 for losing.

TieBreaker Points (TBP)

Secondary determinant in team rankings for traditional events, primary determinant for remote events. For the Power Play season, this is split up into two parts; TBP1 and TBP2. TBP1 is used before TBP2, and is the alliances/teams autonomous period score. TBP2 is the alliances/teams end game score. (Whether it is alliances/teams depends on if the team is at traditional events, respectively.)

Qualification Match

Qualifying matches (generally 5) with random alliance partners and opponents will be played to determine team rankings.

Elimination Match

2 alliances of 2 or 3 teams each compete in best of 3 matches to determine winning alliance. Also known as elim matches, or just elims.

Robot Components

DC Motor

Open-loop RS-555 series 12 volt motors used to power mechanisms. Max of 8.

Servo

Closed-loop servo-motors used for precise movement. Controlled by PWM signals. Max of 12.

Drivetrain (DT)

Mechanism responsible for the movement of the robot.

Intake

Mechanism responsible for picking up game elements from the field by using rotational motion.

Claw

Mechanism responsible for picking up game elements by grasping.

Linear Extension/Slide

Mechanism responsible for extending parts beyond the starting configuration of the robot in a linear fashion.

Arm

Mechanism responsible for extending the reach of the robot through rotational motion or multi-axis movement.

REV Expansion Hub

Hardware controller for the robot, connected to Robot Controller phone. Controls 4 motor and encoders, 6 servos, and various sensors via digital, analog, and I2C ports. Maximum of 2 hubs.

REV Control Hub

Integrated Expansion Hub + Robot Controller phone. It serves many of the same purposes as the Expansion Hub but eliminates the need for a Robot Controller phone. 1 Expansion Hub may be used along side 1 Control Hub.

Driver Station (DS)

Android phone connected to the gamepad controller. Drivers interact with the DS phone to start/stop robot.

Robot Controller

Android phone connected to the Expansion Hub. Connects to DS phone via WiFi-Direct.

Gamepad Controller

An Xbox or PS4 style controller which the driver uses to control the robot during driver-control period. Maximum of 2.