Robotics Engineering

Designing competitive robotics systems

Over the past years I have been involved in designing and developing competitive robotics systems for the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC). These robots combine mechanical design, embedded software, computer vision and autonomous control.

Building robots for competition means working under strict constraints: limited build seasons, evolving game challenges and systems that must perform reliably under pressure.

For me, FTC robotics has always been about engineering systems that actually work in the real world.

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Systems Engineering Approach

Robotics competitions reward not only technical skill, but also system thinking. Successful robots are not just clever mechanisms — they are balanced systems where mechanics, electronics and software work together reliably.

My focus is typically on:

• system architecture and subsystem integration
• autonomous routines and navigation strategies
• computer vision pipelines
• reliability, failsafes and robust control
• designing robots that support alliance strategy in competition

Autonomous Robotics

Autonomous operation is a key part of FTC. This involves designing routines that allow robots to operate independently using sensors, vision systems and predefined strategies.

Areas explored include:

• computer vision and AprilTag detection
• camera pipelines and vision-based positioning
• autonomous path planning
• integrating sensor data into control logic

Robot Software

FTC robots are programmed using Java and run on embedded Android-based control systems. Robot software must manage real-time control of motors, sensors and subsystems while remaining robust under competition conditions.

Typical development work includes:

• subsystem-based robot architectures
• autonomous routines and state machines
• debugging and system integration
• iterative testing and refinement

Reliability and Failsafes

Competition robots operate in chaotic environments. Systems must be designed to fail safely and recover from unexpected situations.

Design considerations include:

• mechanical safety margins
• software failsafes and interlocks
• predictable subsystem behaviour
• testing under realistic match conditions

Lessons from Competitive Robotics

Building robots for competition teaches valuable engineering lessons:

• simplicity often beats complexity
• robust systems outperform clever but fragile designs
• integration matters more than individual subsystems
• testing under real conditions reveals the true behaviour of systems

FIRST Robotics

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Current Experiments

• computer vision pipelines for robotics
• AI-assisted development workflows
• autonomous strategy simulation
• robotics control architectures