Skip to content
MARSLib Documentation

Contributing to MARSLib

Thank you for your interest in contributing to MARSLib! This framework is used by FIRST® teams worldwide to build championship-tier robots. Your contributions are a vital part of our collective journey of Discovery and Innovation.

Why Contribute?

Section titled “Why Contribute?”
  • 🤖 Impact FIRST® Teams - Your technical Innovation helps teams worldwide compete at the highest level.
  • 🧠 Discovery - Master advanced control theory and simulation through active experimentation and Impact.
  • 👥 Teamwork - Join an Inclusive community where we work together to solve complex problems.
  • 🏆 Build Portfolio - Gain experience with championship-tier software and hardware systems.
  • 🎉 Fun - Celebrate technical breakthroughs with a passionate group of robotics enthusiasts!

Quick Start

Section titled “Quick Start”
  1. Set up your development environment (5 minutes)
  2. Find a good first issue to work on.
  3. Make your changes following our coding standards.
  4. Test thoroughly using our simulation framework.
  5. Submit a pull request with description.

Ways to Contribute

Section titled “Ways to Contribute”

🐛 Bug Fixes

Section titled “🐛 Bug Fixes”

Find and fix bugs in the framework. Check out our open issues for reported bugs.

✨ New Features

Section titled “✨ New Features”

Add new capabilities to the framework. Start with a discussion to align on approach.

📚 Documentation

Section titled “📚 Documentation”

Improve documentation, add examples, or create tutorials. Great for first-time contributors!

🧪 Testing

Section titled “🧪 Testing”

Add test coverage or improve existing tests. We maintain 80% coverage for quality.

🎨 Examples

Section titled “🎨 Examples”

Create example projects or code snippets showing how to use MARSLib features.

Development Workflow

Section titled “Development Workflow”

📋 Pre-Submission Quality Checklist

Section titled “📋 Pre-Submission Quality Checklist”

Before submitting a Pull Request, please verify your contribution matches our elite standards:

  • Reading Level: Ensure all Markdown documentation tests at an 8th-grade reading level or lower. Use simple analogies.
  • Zero-Allocation: No new new keywords in periodic loops or telemetry paths.
  • Validation: Code has been run through the MARSBenchmark suite or Dyn4j simulation tests.
  • Formatting: Run ./gradlew spotlessApply before committing.

Documentation Hub

Explore the framework conceptually or dig right into tutorials.

🚀 Zero to MARS

Start here! Configure Vendordeps, construct your first RobotContainer, and scaffold subsystems automatically with our VS Code extension.

🏗️ Core Architecture

Learn the IO Layer AdvantageKit abstraction pattern, thread-safe fault management, and strict zero-allocation loop rules.

🦾 Mechanism Abstraction

Implement RotaryMechanismIO and LinearMechanismIO to dramatically speed up standard mechanism development.

🎮 Control Theory

Dive into Shoot-on-the-Move (SOTM) math, EliteShooterMath, Feedforwards, and WPILib SysId tuning integration.

🖥️ Simulation & Telemetry

Configure Dyn4j 2D physics integration, AdvantageScope 3D field layouts, and automated GitHub log offloading.

🤖 AI Agents & Tooling

Install the MARSLib VS Code extension to access .agent skills, automate subsystem scaffolding, and run championship-grade logic audits.

📻 SysId Characterization

Automated system identification for calculating perfect feedforward constants passively during real matches.

🛡️ Fault Resilience

Discover the military-grade two-layer fault system, real-time driver alerts, and structural hardware fallbacks.

🔧 Troubleshooting

Is the CAN bus dropping out? Robot not driving? Compilation errors? Follow our mechanical issue triage wizards.

♿ Accessible by Design

Read our commitment to inclusive engineering. Learn how we use AI agents and Pa11y to enforce WCAG 2.1 AA DOM parity.

Getting Started Guides

Section titled “Getting Started Guides”

Community Guidelines

Section titled “Community Guidelines”

🤝 Inclusion & Respect

Section titled “🤝 Inclusion & Respect”

Treat all contributors with respect and kindness. We embrace our differences and work to ensure MARSLib is a welcoming environment for everyone.

💬 Open Teamwork

Section titled “💬 Open Teamwork”

Don’t hesitate to ask for help or share ideas. We are stronger when we work together and learn from each other’s experiences.

📖 Follow Patterns

Section titled “📖 Follow Patterns”

Study existing code before making changes. Consistency is key to maintaining a high-impact, reliable framework.

🧪 Validation Through Discovery

Section titled “🧪 Validation Through Discovery”

Our Digital Twin testing approach ensures quality. Always use the simulation environment to discover potential issues before they reach the real robot.

📝 Document Changes

Section titled “📝 Document Changes”

Update documentation alongside code changes. Keep docs in sync with code.

Recognition

Section titled “Recognition”

Contributors are recognized in:

  • GitHub Contributors list.
  • Release notes for significant contributions.
  • Team meetings for major features.

License

Section titled “License”

By contributing to MARSLib, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT License.

Need Help?

Section titled “Need Help?”

Ready to start? Begin with our Development Setup Guide and join us in building amazing FRC software!