Make sure the Elevator PID subsystem has been created in the RobotBuiler. In the case of our elevator we use a propertional constant of 6.0 and 0 for the I and D terms. Once it's all set, generate C++ code for the project using the Export menu or the C++ toolbar menu.

Elevator constants define potentiometer voltages that correspond to fixed positions on the elevator. These values can be determined using the print statements, the LiveWindow or SmartDashboard.

Set the elevator initial position so when the robot starts up it will move to that position. This will get the robot to a known starting point. Then enable the PIDController that is part of the PIDSubsystem. The elevator won't actually move until the robot itself is enabled because the motor outputs are initially off, but when the robot is enabled, the PID controller will already be running and the elevator will move to the "STOW" starting position.

If you look at the RobotBuilder generated code for ReturnPIDInput() you can see that there is a //BEGIN and //END comment delimiting the return statement. \ In between //BEGIN and //END comments is where RobotBuilder will rewrite code on subsequent exports. So in general you should not change any code in that block. But, the function returns the value in raw analog units (0-1023). The setpoints are in units of Volts, so this won't work.

The function must be changed to return voltage. If we change the code inside the //BEGIN and //END block, it will just be overwritten next time RobotBuilder exports the file. The solution is to remove the //BEGIN and //END comments, then make the change. This will prevent RobotBuilder from changing the code back again later.

That's all that is required to create the Elevator PIDSubsystem in C++. To operate it with commands to actually control the motion see: Operating a PIDSubsystem from a command in C++.