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Phoenix Pro to Phoenix 6: Looking Back, and Looking Ahead

Phoenix Pro to Phoenix 6: Looking Back, and Looking Ahead

Published by CTR Electronics Team on 19th May 2023

Software is an integral part of what we do here at CTR Electronics. Our goal is to always be pushing forward the software capabilities of the FRC community while making them more accessible to all teams.

For the 2023 FRC season we introduced Phoenix Pro: a new comprehensive API, firmware, and software tool collection for our latest CAN FD products. Our goal of introducing Phoenix Pro with a paid licensing model was to enable development of larger features and improvements that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

We also knew that in some ways Phoenix Pro would be a bit of an experiment. Paid software is new to FRC, so despite extensive preparation there would likely be growing pains or changes that needed to be made for future seasons. In addition the Phoenix Pro API is very different from the Phoenix 5 API due to the nature of the API improvements.

Starting with our early beta releases we’ve sought to collect as much feedback as possible in a variety of ways, including:

  • Phoenix Pro Beta Testers
  • Initial Community Response
  • Technical Support Requests throughout the season
  • Discussions with teams during build and at events
  • Ongoing discussion by the community on Chief Delphi and Discord
  • FRC Championship Event feedback
  • Active Post-Season feedback requests

Based on this feedback we have a major change to announce for Phoenix Pro:

Starting today, the Phoenix Pro API is becoming the free-to-use Phoenix 6 API!

The initial release of the Phoenix 6 API is currently available - see our full announcement page at the link below or see our latest software documentation for instructions.
Please note that Phoenix Pro firmware features will still require a paid Phoenix Pro license for use with Phoenix 6.

We’re excited for even more folks to get access to our best library yet and look forward to what teams can accomplish for the 2024 season!

For more information about what led to this change, how to access and use Phoenix 6, and details on which features will be exclusive to Phoenix Pro, see our full information page here:

Full Phoenix 6 Announcement Details