Unit 1 Getting Started

GETTING
STARTED WITH
VEX ROBOT

SYSTEM
OVERVIEW

¡ Robot Brain
¡ Battery
¡ Sensor
¡ Controller
¡ Programming Device

(computer)
¡ VEX IQ Software

THE VEX IQ
BRAIN

¡ The Brain is the large grey
brick that controls all the
other parts in the system as
long as they are plugged in.

¡ Motors and Sensors connect
to the brain when they are
plugged into the 12 ports
along the top and bottom of
the Brain.

¡ You will need to set them up
in the VEXcode IQ Blocks
programming software.

VEX IQ
SOFTWARE

The VEX IQ software is
a program that you
used to write the code
that controls the robot.

DEVICE SETUP

After you have attached and
plugged in the motors and
sensors to your VEX IQ
Robot Brain, you will need to
configure them within
VEXcode IQ Blocks.

RUNNING The Drive program is a default program
DRIVER built into the VEX IQ Robot Brain so it
CONTROL can be used with Smart Motors,
PROGRAMS Bumper Switches, and the VEX IQ
Controller without programming.
The Drive program maps the
Controller’s joysticks and buttons to
control specific Smart Ports on the
Brain.

VIDEO

CONNECTING DEVICES TO SMART PORTS

¡ Locate the 12 Smart Ports that are numbered along
the top and bottom sides of the VEX IQ Robot Brain.

¡ Connect a Smart Motor to any Smart Port on the
Brain using a Smart Cable.

¡ Press each side of the Smart Cable firmly into the
socket on the Smart Motor and Brain until a click of
the lock snapping into place is heard.

¡ NOTE: Smart Cables are removed from any device
by pressing down on the release tab, then gently
pulling out.

STEP 1:
CHECK THAT THE SMART PORTS ARE PROPERLY WIRED.

Smart Motor – turns using Joystick D Smart Motor – turns using Joystick D

Smart Motor – turns using F Buttons Smart Motor- turns using E Buttons
Smart Motor- turns using R Buttons Smart Motor- turns using L Buttons
Bumper Switch – stops R Up Motor Bumper Switch – stops L Up Motor

Bumper Switch - stops R Down Motor Bumper Switch – stops L Down Motor

Smart Motor – turns using Joystick A Smart Motor – turns using Joystick A

(Not all of these have to be connected)

STEP 2: POWER ON THE BRAIN AND CONTROLLER

¡ Install the Battery and select the Check button to
turn on the Brain.

¡ Press the Power button to turn on the
Controller.

¡ The Brain’s LED and the Controller’s Power/Link
LED should display green to show that they are
powered on.

WIRELESSLY PAIR THE CONTROLLER AND BRAIN

View this animation, and follow the steps outlined
below to wirelessly pair the Controller and Brain.
¡ When wirelessly connected, the Brain’s LED and the

Controller’s Power/Link LED should both blink green
to show that they are connected.

STEPS TO CONNECT Step 3: Then, scroll to Link and press the
Check button to select.
Step 1: Use the arrow buttons to
scroll to Settings.

Step 2: Press the Check button to select Step 4: Once Link is selected, the pairing screen
Settings. will open. The Brain’s LED will turn yellow while
connecting.

CONTINUED… Step 6: When wirelessly connected, you will see
the Controller icon on the Brain screen. The
Step 5: Press the Controller Power button 2 Brain’s LED and the Controller’s Power/Link LED
times while holding down the L-Up and L- should both blink green to show that they are
Down buttons, as shown on the Brain connected.
screen.

Note: Notice the timing in which the Power
button blinks on the Brain screen. Try to
press the Controller Power button with the
same timing. This may take more than one
try.

STEP 3: FIND AND RUN THE DRIVE
PROGRAM

¡ There is a program already built into the Brain
that allows you to drive the BaseBot using the
Controller without having to write any code.

¡ Follow the steps below to learn how to run the
Driver Control program on the Brain.

¡ Press the checkmark to select the highlighted
Drive program.

¡ Press the checkmark again to run the program

¡ As the program is
running, the Brain's
screen will look like
this image.

¡ To stop the program,
select the x button.

CONTROLLER CONFIGURATIONS

¡ There are four different configurations
of the Driver Control program on the
Brain: Left Arcade, Right Arcade, Split
Arcade, and Tank drive.

¡ Follow the steps on the next slides to
learn what each of the four
configurations are and how to select
them on the Brain.

CONFIGURATIONS TYPES

Drive the BaseBot Drive the BaseBot Drive the left & right Drive the left motor
forward, reverse, left, forward, reverse, left, using the left joystick, using the left joystick,
and right all using the and right all using the and forward & reverse and the right motor of
left joystick. right joystick. using the right joystick. using the right joystick.

CUSTOMIZING ¡ You can use the “Controls” to change motor
DRIVER direction.
CONTROL
¡ Do this by reversing the direction from ‘Forward’
to ‘Reverse’, as shown in these images

TO CHANGE WHICH BUTTON CONTROL MOTOR PORT

¡ Change which port the motor is
physically plugged into on the Brain

¡ Look at the ‘Controls’ window to
check that your motor is connected
the desired buttons

¡ A connected port will show a green
icon (as port 5 shows in the image
to the right), while a disconnected
port will show a white icon (as
ports 4 and 11 show in this image).

PAIR THE CONTROLLER AND
THE BRAIN

¡ Ensure that your Controller and Brain are paired.
¡ Verify that the Controller is connected by noticing

the connected icon on the top of the screen. Once
Settings is highlighted, press the Check button to
select.

CALIBRATE THE CONTROLLER

¡ Press the X button to navigate back to the Settings screen.
¡ Press the left or right buttons until you see the Calibrate

option, and select it by pressing the Check button.
¡ Move both joysticks in a full circle as shown on the screen.
¡ After moving the joysticks, you will see two, green checks and

the E-Up button will blink on the screen. Press the E-Up
button to save your calibration.

DRIVETRAIN

¡ A drivetrain allows a robot to be mobile by using wheels, tank treads, or
another method.

¡ A drivetrain is sometimes referred to as a drive base. Identifying which kind of
drivetrain to use is one of the first considerations when designing a robot.

¡ The VEX IQ Clawbot drivetrain is fine for starting out, but additional drivetrain
designs can allow the robot much more functionality, such as being able to
move sideways in addition to turning and moving forward and backward.

ADDING A DRIVETRAIN

¡ When starting to program with VEXcode IQ
(2nd gen), blocks from the Drivetrain
category will not appear in the Toolbox
until a Drivetrain has been configured.

¡ You can only configure one Drivetrain per
project.

TO ADD THE ¡ To configure a Drivetrain, select the Devices
DRIVETRAIN icon to open the Devices window.

¡ Select the generation that you are working with.
(2ND GENERATION)

¡ Select “Add a device.”

¡ Select 'Drivetrain 2-Motor.'

SELECT MOTOR PORTS

¡ Select which ports the Left Motor and Right
Motor are attached to on the VEX IQ
Brain.Ports that are already configured for
other devices will be unavailable.

CONFIGURE THE
DRIVETRAIN

¡ The IQ (2nd gen) Brain has a built in gyro
that is referred to as the "Brain Inertial"

¡ To configure this gyro, select 'Brain Inertial’.

¡ The 'Brain Inertial' gyro turns clockwise.

¡ You will notice that the Brain Inertial icon
appears in the upper right corner of the
Devices window.

¡ Select “Done” to submit the device to the
configuration or “Cancel” to return back to
the Devices menu.

¡ Note: Selecting “Cancel” will undo any
changes you have made to the device and
will not be a part of the configuration.

CHANGING THE DRIVE TRAIN’S PORT
NUMBERS

¡ You can change the port numbers for the
Left Motors and Right Motors in the
Drivetrain by selecting a plug icon in the
top right corner of the Options screen.

¡ Select a different port on the Port Selection
screen and the port number will turn green.

¡ Then, select Done to submit the change.

CHANGING WHEEL
SIZE

¡ You can change the wheel
size for the Drivetrain by
selecting the drop down
menu under “Wheel Size.”

CHANGING A
DRIVETRAIN’S GEAR
RATIO

¡ You can change the
gear ratio for the
Drivetrain by
entering values in
the “Input” and
“Output” boxes.

REVERSING THE DRIVETRAIN

THE OPTIONS SCREEN ALSO ALLOWS THE
DIRECTION OF THE DRIVETRAIN TO BE REVERSED.

DELETING THE
DRIVETRAIN

¡ A Drivetrain can also be
deleted by selecting the
“Delete” option at the
bottom of the screen.

IF USING A 4-MOTOR DRIVE TRAIN

¡ Select 'Drivetrain 4-Motor.’
¡ Select which ports the Left Motors and

Right Motors are attached to on the VEX IQ
Brain. Ports that are already configured for
other devices will be unavailable.

¡ Everything else should be the same.



Torque – the
twisting force that
causes rotation
The higher the
torque, the more
force is needed to
turn it.