Programming, Controls & SensorsModule 7 of 13

Gyros, IMUs, and Orientation

To know which way it is pointing and to keep its driving straight, a robot needs a gyroscope. This module covers IMUs, drift, calibration and mounting, the field coordinate system, and odometry.

Gyros, IMUs, and Orientation is module 7 of 13 in the Programming, Controls & Sensors guide. It picks up where Encoders: Measuring Position and Velocity left off and hands over to Closed-Loop Control: PID, Feedforward, and SysId. Its 3 lessons are about 85 minutes of the guide's ~30 hours.

3 lessons~85 min51 lessons in this guide

Start with lesson 1 All of Programming, Controls & Sensors

In this module

3 lessons

01Gyros and IMUs: Pigeon 2.0, NavX2, and ADISThe inertial sensors that measure heading, the difference between gyros and full IMUs, and the products teams use.30 min read

02Mounting, Calibrating, and Trusting Your IMUPractical steps to get clean, trustworthy heading data: mounting, calibration, zeroing, and validation.25 min read

03The Field Coordinate System and OdometryHow WPILib defines field position, Pose2d/Rotation2d, and how wheel encoders plus the gyro track the robot.30 min read

Previous moduleEncoders: Measuring Position and Velocity

Next moduleClosed-Loop Control: PID, Feedforward, and SysId

Jargon check

FRC terms used in Gyros, IMUs, and Orientation

Longer reads

Articles that go deeper on this

FRC Odometry and Pose Estimation: Field-Centric Control with WPILibHow an FRC robot tracks its field position with WPILib: wheel odometry vs pose estimation, gyro heading, fusing AprilTag vision, and field-centric driving.15 min read

FRC Sensors Explained: Encoders, Gyros, Beam Breaks, and Limit SwitchesA practical FRC guide to encoders (quadrature, absolute, CANcoder, through-bore), gyros (NavX2, Pigeon 2.0), limit switches, beam breaks, and current sensing.17 min read

All 13 modules in Programming, Controls & Sensors

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