13 / Autonomous Build

Simple Autonomous

Build an autonomous routine with timers and safe stops.

50 minAutonomousAutonomous Build

You will

01Sequence actions without blocking forever.
02Use timeouts on every movement.
03End autonomous in a known safe state.

Why Simple Autonomous matters

This lesson is about sequencing decisions without a human driver. Autonomous code must know where it starts, what it is trying to accomplish, how each step ends, and what safe behavior happens when a step fails.

Starting point

Autonomous is a sequence of small promises

Each step should have one job: drive, turn, wait, move an arm, or stop. Small steps are easier to test and easier to fix at events.

Every step needs an exit

A robot should never wait forever for a sensor or encoder. Even basic autonomous code should include timeouts and a final stop.

Build path

Teach autonomous as a progression from timed steps to encoder checks to state machines and actions. Each layer should preserve the same core habits: explicit state, telemetry for the active step, timeout or finish condition, and a final safe stop.

For this specific lesson, students should first restate the goal in robot terms, then identify the value or behavior they expect to observe, then run the smallest test that proves the idea. The lesson should feel like a guided lab: predict, run, observe, explain, and only then extend.

TimedAuto.java · Java

waitForStart();
runtime.reset();

while (opModeIsActive() && runtime.seconds() < 1.0) {
  setDrivePower(0.25, 0.25);
  telemetry.addLine("Step: drive forward");
  telemetry.update();
}

setDrivePower(0, 0);
sleep(300);

runtime.reset();
while (opModeIsActive() && runtime.seconds() < 0.5) {
  setDrivePower(0.2, -0.2);
}

Debugging and failure modes

Autonomous failures are easier to diagnose when the robot reports why it moved on or stopped. Print the selected branch, active state, elapsed time, target, measurement, and stop reason. If those values are missing, the team is debugging a story with half the pages torn out.

Checks

The robot stops if the routine finishes early.
The robot stops if the timer passes the timeout.
Telemetry shows the current autonomous step.

Check your understanding

Module check

What should you check first when robot code does not behave as expected?

0 of 1 answered

References

FIRST FTC DocsOfficial FTC SDK and robot programming documentation.Learn Road RunnerFTC autonomous and trajectory reference.Road Runner TrajectoriesTrajectory concepts for teams that move beyond timed auto.