Mini-Project: A Velocity-Controlled Shooter on REVLib

A shooter has to reach a consistent surface speed before it launches, or the shots scatter. We’ll run a NEO Vortex (free speed 6784 RPM, Kv 565) on a SPARK Flex in closed-loop velocity mode, using REVLib 2025’s declarative configuration API.

The 2025 config model

In REVLib 2025 you no longer call setters one at a time on the controller. Instead you build a SparkFlexConfig and configure() it once, with explicit reset and persist modes:

private final SparkFlex m_motor = new SparkFlex(31, MotorType.kBrushless);
private final SparkClosedLoopController m_pid = m_motor.getClosedLoopController();
private final RelativeEncoder m_enc = m_motor.getEncoder();

public Shooter() {
  SparkFlexConfig config = new SparkFlexConfig();
  config.closedLoop
      .feedbackSensor(FeedbackSensor.kPrimaryEncoder)
      .pid(0.0001, 0.0, 0.0)        // velocity P,I,D
      .velocityFF(1.0 / 6784.0);    // ~1/free-speed-RPM for a NEO Vortex (6784 RPM)
  config.smartCurrentLimit(60);

  m_motor.configure(config,
      ResetMode.kResetSafeParameters,
      PersistMode.kPersistParameters);
}

PersistMode.kPersistParameters writes to flash, so the config survives a brown-out reboot. That is worth doing for a one-time setup, but never call it every loop: flash writes block CAN comms.

Command a target RPM

Command the velocity through the SparkClosedLoopController with setReference(). REVLib 2026 deprecates that method in favor of an identical setSetpoint(), so use that one on the 2026 library:

private static final double kTargetRpm = 4800;

public Command spinUp() {
  return run(() ->
      m_pid.setReference(kTargetRpm, ControlType.kVelocity));
}

public boolean atSpeed() {
  return Math.abs(m_enc.getVelocity() - kTargetRpm) < 100; // RPM tolerance
}

Gate the feeder on “at speed”

Expose atSpeed() as a Trigger and run the feeder only when the flywheel is ready. This is the BoVLB best practice of asking yes/no questions in problem-domain language:

Trigger ready = new Trigger(m_shooter::atSpeed);
// hold to spin up
m_driver.rightTrigger().whileTrue(m_shooter.spinUp());
// feed only once the wheel has recovered to speed
m_driver.rightTrigger().and(ready).whileTrue(m_feeder.feed());

Why velocityFF matters more than P

A flywheel’s steady-state voltage is almost entirely feedforward: V = kV * rpm. If velocityFF is set correctly, the controller jumps to near the right voltage immediately, and P only has to trim the last few percent. Teams that leave FF at zero and crank P instead get a sluggish, oscillating flywheel that dips badly when a game piece loads it. The SPARK’s velocityFF multiplies the RPM setpoint to produce a duty-cycle output, so its value is roughly 1 / free-speed-RPM. Find it from a SysId run, or empirically: command a fixed duty cycle, read the steady RPM, and velocityFF = appliedOutput / rpm. (REVLib is moving toward a feedForward config with explicit kS/kV terms, but velocityFF() still works in 2025.)

Plot m_enc.getVelocity() against the setpoint in AdvantageScope. A good shooter recovers to within tolerance in well under half a second after each shot.

Key takeaways

• REVLib 2025 uses declarative SparkFlexConfig/SparkMaxConfig objects applied with configure(), not per-parameter setters.
• In REVLib 2025 use SparkClosedLoopController.setSetpoint() – setReference() is deprecated.
• Use PersistMode.kPersistParameters once at setup; never persist every loop – flash writes block CAN.
• Flywheels are feedforward-dominated: set velocityFF (~1/Kv) correctly and keep P small; gate the feeder on an atSpeed() Trigger.

This lesson was adapted from learnfrc.com.