New for 2027

The change from the roboRIO to Systemcore is the biggest control system update since the introduction of the cRIO. A number of improvements have been made to WPILib to take advantage of Systemcore. This article will describe and provide a brief overview of the new changes and features as well as a more complete changelog for Java/C++ WPILib changes. This document only includes the most relevant changes for end users, the full list of changes can be viewed on the various WPILib GitHub repositories. There’s more information about Systemcore in the Systemcore Introduction.

It’s recommended to also review the list of known issues.

Importing Projects from Previous Years

Due to internal GradleRIO changes, it is necessary to update projects from previous years. After Installing WPILib for 2027, any 2026 projects must be imported to be compatible.

Major Changes (Java/C++)

In order to more closly track C++ compiler feature support, the supported Linux distribution has changed to only the latest Ubuntu LTS. See Supported Operating Systems and Architectures for more information.

Warning

Windows 10 support from Microsoft ended in October 2025. While we will not explicitly block Windows 10 from being used, future releases may inadvertently break compatibility with Windows 10. We will not postpone these changes in order to maintain Windows 10 compatibility, and Windows 10 support may break as a result.

  • Use Java 25 and C++ 23

  • Add Commands v3 framework for Java. Documentation is in work. In the meantime, see the Commands v3 Conference, Design Document and the port of the Hatchbot example to Commands v3.

  • Add OpMode framework, similar to FTC. Documentation is in progress. In the meantime, see the OpModes Design Document and the OpMode Robot template (Java / C++)

  • Support for the 2027 FIRST Driver Station bringing multi-platform support.

  • Reorganize java packages from edu.wpi.first to org.wpilib and c++ namespaces from frc:: to wpi:: and create new subpackages for better organization. The VS Code importer will attempt to update code for these changes as part of the import process.

  • Systemcore has different hardware support. Support multiple CAN buses, Smart IO, onboard IMU, Expansion Hub. Removed relay, analog output, SPI and SPI IMUs (ADIS16448, ADIS16470, ADXL345, ADXRS450), analog gyro, DMA, built-in accelerometer, Digital Glitch Filter, interrupts, counter, ultrasonic, analog trigger, Nidec Brushless, Servo, Jaguar

  • Removed Network Tables v3 support. See the Network Tables v4 migration guide for details on how to update your code from Network Tables v3 to v4. Users of pynetworktables will need to update to pyntcore.

  • Many of the simple examples were moved to snippets to de-clutter the VS Code examples. The snippets are available here: Java / C++. We’re thinking of ways to make these easier to discover.

WPILib

Note

As the 2026 and 2027 development happened in parallel, some of these changes are new to 2027 Alpha 5 compared to earlier alphas, but not new compared to 2026.

General Library

  • 2027 Alpha 2: Update POV to use enums

  • 2027 Alpha 2: Use steady clock directly on Systemcore

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Replace libprotobuf with upb for dynamic decode

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove robotInit(). Use the Robot() constructor instead.

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add a few unit overloads

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove deprecated MotorControllerGroup

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Replace individual gamepad classes (e.g. XboxController, PS4Controller, PS5Controller, StadiaController) with a single Gamepad class.

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add Touchpad support for gamepads

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove MotorController::StopMotor(). Use MotorController::Disable() instead.

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Switch to new game data

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Make joystick unplugged warning better in cases of out of range axis/button

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Preferences Listener should not depend on mutable fields

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Replace Speeds with Velocities in method signatures where appropriate

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Rename FPGA clock to monotonic clock

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Rename constants to all caps style

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix HSV to RGB conversion off-by-one error

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Rename MotorController set() to setThrottle()

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add FTC fields

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Make swerve and differential kinematics functions immutable

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Rename “Test” robot mode to “Utility” to emphasize that it can be used for more than just testing

  • 2027 Alpha 6: Fix crash when using OpMode robot on Systemcore.

Commands v2

  • Remove RamseteCommand

  • Remove control commands and subsystems

  • 2027 Alpha 2: Deprecate Command.schedule()

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove Mecanum/SwerveControllerCommand

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add Subsystem.idle()

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix WaitUntilCommand for match time counting down

Commands v3

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add CommandGamepad for V3 commands

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add compile-time checks for unsafe or incorrect coroutine usage

  • 2027 Alpha 6: Add rising and falling edge trigger factories

  • 2027 Alpha 6: Add a declarative state machine API on top of commands v3

NetworkTables

  • Remove NT3 support

  • 2027 Alpha 2: Check id ranges in control messages

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Handle interrupted save in NetworkServer

  • 2027 Alpha 5: PubSubOption: Use record approach for Java

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Prefix log levels to avoid macro conflicts

Data Logging

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Use reflection to access non-public superclass fields

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Optimize time and memory usage of epilogue backends

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Support logging of protobuf-serializable types

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Use full class names in static logger fields

Hardware interfaces

  • Add SPARKmini to PWM support

  • 2027 Alpha 2: Fix I2C order on Systemcore

  • 2027 Alpha 2: Fix analog scaling for updated image

  • 2027 Alpha 2: Add support for onboard IMU mount orientations with Euler angles

  • 2027 Alpha 5: AddressableLED: Restore alternative color order support

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Integrate support for ExpansionHub over USB

Math

  • Remove Rotation2d value field

  • Fix SimpleFeedforward overload set

  • Fix duplicate Rotation2d constructor

  • Remove LUTs from LTV controllers

  • Remove RamseteController and RamseteCommand

  • Use immutable member functions in ChassisSpeeds

  • Clean up arm and elevator feedforward APIs

  • Remove PathWeaver support

  • Fix SimpleMotorFeedforward no-accel overload returning negative voltage outputs

  • 2027 Alpha 2: Fix TrapezoidProfile limiting velocity incorrectly

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove redundant transposes on symmetric matrices

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add vector product and squared length operations to Translation2d/3d

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove Mecanum/SwerveControllerCommand

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Added structs for TrapezoidProfile.State and ExponentialProfile.State

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Replace Pose2/3d.exp(Twist2/3d) with Pose2/3d.plus(Twist2/3d.exp()) to match math notation better

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Refactor MathUtil.interpolate() and MathUtil.inverseInterpolate() to handle extrapolation

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix units overload resolution

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add 2D variants of MathUtil.applyDeadband and MathUtil.copySignPow for circular joystick inputs

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Rename 1D copySignPow to match 2D copyDirectionPow

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add Kraken X44 and Minion to DCMotor

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Scale transforms instead of twists in PoseEstimator

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix ElevatorSim::GetCurrentDraw()

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add ChassisAccelerations and drivetrain accelerations classes, and add forward and inverse kinematics for accelerations to the interface

  • 2027 Alpha 5: TrapezoidProfile.State implement StructSerializable

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add multi-tap boolean stream filter and multi-tap trigger modifier (double-tap detector)

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Speed up pose estimator correction computation

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add limit setters to SlewRateLimiter

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Implement Rotation3d interpolation as slerp instead of lerp

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Don’t clamp Rotation2d interpolation

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Prevent CoordinateSystem from accepting left-handed systems

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Make swerve and differential kinematics functions immutable

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Mark all geometry classes as final

Simulation

  • 2027 Alpha 6: Don’t wait on init for ExpansionHub in simulation.

  • 2027 Alpha 6: Add Onboard IMU Simulation

  • 2027 Alpha 6: GUI: fix game message string lifetime

  • 2027 Alpha 6: Make HalSim DS extension a no-op, fixing crash when running with the real DS option. Support for the real DS simulation option will be added in a future release.

Romi/XRP

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Adding XRP Java and C++ examples for Timed Robot

  • 2027 Alpha 6: Show IP and port of XRP/Romi to user on connection

Java units

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Make measure implementations immutable only

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Rename AngularMomentumUnit.mult to per

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Make RPM an alias of RotationsPerMinute

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix incorrect magnitudes in some MutableMeasure mutations

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove deprecated divide and negate functions

CameraServer

  • Remove Axis Camera

Util

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add reverse iterators to wpi::circular_buffer and wpi::static_circular_buffer, make other iterators bidirectional

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix windows mDNS announcer long startup times

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix uv_tcp_keepalive time

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove CombinedRuntimeLoader

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix port having incorrect endian on Windows resolver

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Rename CreateEvent and CreateSemaphore to Make

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Change C++ json to jart/json.cpp

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Change Java JSON to Avaje Jsonb

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Use C++23 stacktrace library on WindowsS

Glass / OutlineViewer / Simulation GUI

  • 2027 Alpha 2: Fix NT int64 value display

  • 2027 Alpha 5: NetworkTables: Show struct enum values

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix handling for optionals and empty arrays

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix color order for sim GUI LEDs

  • 2027 Alpha 5: FMS: Fix reading past end of GSM buffer

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix NT server mode

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add correct time for rebuilt

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Update to SDL joystick mappings from 1-19-2026

  • 2027 Alpha 6: Fix memory corruption and incorrect POV count

GradleRIO

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Upgrade to Gradle 9.4.1

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add ZGC as a GC option and make it the default

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Force encoding for written files to UTF-8

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Add Avaje Jsonb and remove Jackson

WPILib All in One Installer

  • 2027 Alpha 2: Use unique icons for tools

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Update to VS Code 1.116.0

  • 2027 Alpha 5: VS Code extension updates: cpptools 1.31.4, javaext 1.54

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Show deprecated message on Windows 10

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Hide recommended vscode extensions to install

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Hide the chat sidebar by default

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Use unique strings for tool display vs executable names

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Change installer to AOT, convert tools updater to AOT app

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Catch download failures and show URL

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove Python VS Code extensions

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Improve error handling for 0 length downloads

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix Windows CRLF line break in installer when creating Linux desktop files

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Update to Avalonia 12

  • 2027 Alpha 6: Fix progress bar on Linux

Visual Studio Code Extension

  • Remove standalone utility

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Improve RIOLog UI

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix blank window after installing dependency from local copy

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove unnecessary setting change commands

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Support Commandsv3 vendordep

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Move source backup in jar to backup directory

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Set java project source/targetCompatibility to 25

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Use shadow plugin to make shaded JARs

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Port Java simulation canceling to C++

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Move wpilibHome to the top of the plugin repository list

SysId

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove Phoenix5 CANcoder preset

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Fix crash on partially empty raw data

AdvantageScope

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Use AdvantageScope 27.0.0-alpha-4

Elastic

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Use Elastic 2027.0.0-alpha7

  • 2027 Alpha 6: Use Elastic 2027.0.0-alpha8

WPIcal

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Use updated thirdparty-ceres and move resource files

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Refactor to use WPILib libraries and modern C++ conventions and improve UX

  • 2027 Alpha 5: Remove tag ID limit

Shuffleboard

Warning

Shuffleboard has been removed for 2027 due to its lack of a maintainer and resource utilization issues. Users can find additional modern dashboard options here

SmartDashboard

Warning

SmartDashboard has been removed for 2027 due to its usage of Network Tables v3. Users can find additional modern dashboard options here

PathWeaver

Warning

PathWeaver has been removed for 2027 due to its lack of swerve support and lack of a maintainer. Users may find Choreo, PathPlanner, or Bline more useful. They have an intuitive user interface and swerve support.

RobotBuilder

Warning

RobotBuilder has been removed for 2027 due to its declining usage and burden of updating for the 2027 control system.