{"id":195,"date":"2023-05-30T17:55:53","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T00:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/?page_id=195"},"modified":"2025-06-01T16:07:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T23:07:46","slug":"lesson-5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/lesson-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t<\/i>Prev<\/span><\/span>Lesson 4<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Lesson 5: Moving the Robot<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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We want to make the robot chassis move forward, backward, and turn left and right.<\/p>

The first thing we need to do is tell VEXcode V5 that we have motors we need to control. Click on the CONFIGURE DEVICES<\/b> button.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Then choose “ADD A DEVICE<\/b>“.\u00a0 We could set up each motor separately and tell them when to turn on and turn off, but VEX code has a more powerful feature called a drivetrain.\u00a0 Let’s choose a DRIVETRAIN 2-MOTOR<\/b>\u00a0device.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tell it which ports your LEFT <\/b>and RIGHT <\/b>motors are connected to.\u00a0 We currently have no sensors attached, so say “NO GYRO<\/b>“<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Without a gyro sensor, you have to describe you robot design to VEXcode in order for it to know how to make accurate turns.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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WHEELS:<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The standard V5 builds use 4 inch diameter wheels.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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TRACK WIDTH:<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Track width is the distance between the robot\u2019s right wheel\u2019s center point and the robot\u2019s left wheel’s center point.<\/p>

The wider the track width, the more revolutions the wheels on each side need to make in opposite directions per degree of turn.<\/p>

You will need to measure your robot’s\u00a0track width\u00a0(center of left wheel to center of right wheel).\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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WHEEL BASE:<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Wheelbase is the distance between the drive shafts of the two drive wheels on the robot\u2019s side.<\/p>

You will need to measure your\u00a0wheelbase\u00a0(axle of front wheel to axle of back wheel).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The standard V5 Clawbot uses 4 inch diameter wheels<\/span>.  It has a track width of about 11.5 inches<\/span> (center of left wheel to center of right wheel).  It has a wheelbase of 6.5 inches<\/span> (axle of front wheel to axle of back wheel).  However, you should measure these for your robot to make sure the numbers match the way it was built.<\/p>

We have no gears on our Clawbot, so leave the gear ratio at 1:1<\/span>.  You are probably using motors with the green insert, so do not change the GEAR CARTRIDGE<\/span>. <\/p>

If you find that the robot drives “backward” when you tell it to go “forward”, then change the blue arrow<\/span> from pointing up to pointing down.<\/p>

Be sure to click DONE when you are finished.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Challenge:<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Task 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Program your robot to drive forward 2 feet.  (Each tile in the game field is 2 feet across.)<\/p>\n

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Task 2:<\/b><\/p>\n

Program your robot to drive forward 4 feet, then backward 3 feet.<\/p>\n

Does it stop in the middle of a tile?<\/i><\/p>\n

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Task 3:<\/b><\/p>\n

Program your robot to spin 90 degrees left, then 180 degrees right, then 90 degrees left.<\/p>\n

Does it end up facing the direction it started?<\/i><\/p>\n

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Task 4:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Program your robot to drive in a 3 foot square.  (Since a square uses the same instructions multiple times, use a repeat loop.)<\/p>\n

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Task 5:<\/b><\/p>

Now make a\u00a0MY BLOCK<\/b>\u00a0(function or procedure) to control the square.\u00a0\u00a0In programming, a procedure or function is\u00a0a defined piece of code that can be run multiple times.\u00a0 Anytime we want to use that code, we just ask the function to run and it does.<\/p>

Make a\u00a0MY BLOCK<\/b>\u00a0called “SQUARE<\/b>“.\u00a0 Click “ADD AN INPUT<\/b>” and change its name from “NUMBER<\/b>” to “SIZE<\/b>“.\u00a0 You will copy the code you wrote for the square in Task 4 into the\u00a0DEFINE SQUARE<\/b>\u00a0block.\u00a0 \u00a0Instead of telling it to drive 3 feet on each side, drag the oval that says “SIZE” into the\u00a0DRIVE FORWARD FOR<\/b>\u00a0block.\u00a0 Now when you want to make a square, drag the\u00a0SQUARE\u00a0<\/b>command from\u00a0MY BLOCKS<\/b>, attach it below the\u00a0WHEN STARTED<\/b>\u00a0event, and put whatever size you want it to be in the white oval.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Write a program that makes a 2 foot square, followed by a 3 foot square, followed by a 4 foot square.<\/p>

How great are\u00a0MY BLOCKS<\/b>?<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\tLesson 6<\/span><\/span><\/i>Next<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lesson 5: Moving the Robot We want to make the robot chassis move forward, backward, and turn left and right. The first thing we need to do is tell VEXcode V5 that we have motors we need to control. Click on the CONFIGURE DEVICES button. Then choose “ADD A DEVICE“.\u00a0 We could set up each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-beginner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1802,"href":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/195\/revisions\/1802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithlearning.com\/vex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}