Controller Not Controlling Robot

VEX V5 Technical Support
1

Okay, I’m in a bit of a pickle. I just finished a 2-motor drive chassis and am working on programming it. I used some code from last year’s competition robot because it worked well and allowed for variable speed driving. I changed it to work with two motors, but when I download and run the program, the robot will not move no matter what input is used. I checked the robot motors with the “Drive” function of the controller, and they’re working fine. What could be the issue? Is it my code? My code is attached.

/*----------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
/*                                                                            */
/*    Module:       main.cpp                                                  */
/*    Author:       VEX                                                       */
/*    Created:      Thu Sep 26 2019                                           */
/*    Description:  Competition Template                                      */
/*                                                                            */
/*----------------------------------------------------------------------------*/

// ---- START VEXCODE CONFIGURED DEVICES ----
// Robot Configuration:
// [Name]               [Type]        [Port(s)]
// Controller1          controller                    
// Inertial3            inertial      3               
// RightMotors          motor         9               
// LeftMotors           motor         10              
// ---- END VEXCODE CONFIGURED DEVICES ----

#include "vex.h"

using namespace vex;

// A global instance of competition
competition Competition;

// define your global instances of motors and other devices here

/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
/*                          Pre-Autonomous Functions                         */
/*                                                                           */
/*  You may want to perform some actions before the competition starts.      */
/*  Do them in the following function.  You must return from this function   */
/*  or the autonomous and usercontrol tasks will not be started.  This       */
/*  function is only called once after the V5 has been powered on and        */
/*  not every time that the robot is disabled.                               */
/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/

void pre_auton(void) {
  // Initializing Robot Configuration. DO NOT REMOVE!
  vexcodeInit();
  Controller1.rumble(rumbleLong);
  Controller1.Screen.clearScreen();
  Controller1.Screen.setCursor(0,0);
  Controller1.Screen.print("WHS Vex Robotics");


  Controller1.Screen.newLine();
  Controller1.Screen.print("Clearing Encoders...");


  RightMotors.resetRotation();
  LeftMotors.resetRotation();
  

  Controller1.Screen.newLine();
  Controller1.Screen.print("Encoders Cleared");

  Inertial3.calibrate();
  wait(2,sec);
  Controller1.Screen.clearLine();
  Controller1.Screen.print("Gyro Calibrated");

  // All activities that occur before the competition starts
  // Example: clearing encoders, setting servo positions, ...
}

/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
/*                                                                           */
/*                              Autonomous Task                              */
/*                                                                           */
/*  This task is used to control your robot during the autonomous phase of   */
/*  a VEX Competition.                                                       */
/*                                                                           */
/*  You must modify the code to add your own robot specific commands here.   */
/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/

void autonomous(void) {
  // ..........................................................................
  // Insert autonomous user code here.
  // ..........................................................................
}

/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
/*                                                                           */
/*                              User Control Task                            */
/*                                                                           */
/*  This task is used to control your robot during the user control phase of */
/*  a VEX Competition.                                                       */
/*                                                                           */
/*  You must modify the code to add your own robot specific commands here.   */
/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/

void usercontrol(void) {
  // User control code here, inside the loop

    int deadband=5;

        while (true) {
      if (Controller1.ButtonR1.pressing()) {
      } 
      else if (Controller1.ButtonR2.pressing()) {
      } 
      else {
      }
   
    // Get the velocity percentage of the left motor. (Axis3)
    int leftMotorSpeed = Controller1.Axis3.position() * .85;
    // Get the velocity percentage of the right motor. (Axis2)
    int rightMotorSpeed = Controller1.Axis2.position() * .85;

    
    // Set the speed of the left motor. If the value is less than the deadband,
    // set it to zero.
    if (abs(leftMotorSpeed) < deadband) 
    {
      // Set the speed to zero.
      LeftMotors.setVelocity(0,percent);
    } 
    else 
    {
      // Set the speed to leftMotorSpeed
     LeftMotors.setVelocity(leftMotorSpeed,percent);
    }

    // Set the speed of the right motor. If the value is less than the deadband,
    // set it to zero.
    if (abs(rightMotorSpeed) < deadband)  {
      // Set the speed to zero
      RightMotors.setVelocity(0,percent);
    } 
    else {
      // Set the speed to rightMotorSpeed
     RightMotors.setVelocity(rightMotorSpeed,percent);// This is the main execution loop for the user control program.
    // Each time through the loop your program should update motor + servo
    // values based on feedback from the joysticks.

    // ........................................................................
    // Insert user code here. This is where you use the joystick values to
    // update your motors, etc.
    // ........................................................................

    wait(20, msec); // Sleep the task for a short amount of time to
                     // prevent wasted resources.
}
    }
   }


//
// Main will set up the competition functions and callbacks.
//
int main() {
  // Set up callbacks for autonomous and driver control periods.
  Competition.autonomous(autonomous);
  Competition.drivercontrol(usercontrol);

  // Run the pre-autonomous function.
  pre_auton();

  // Prevent main from exiting with an infinite loop.
  while (true) {
    wait(100, msec);
  }
}

edit: code tags added by mods, please remember to use them.

2

It may be because you are setting the velocity without spinning the motor. Try adding a spin at the end of the loop or replace the setVelocity for a spin function that takes in speed.

3

How would one do that? the only 3 spin functions are spin(dir), spinToPosition(value,units), and spinFor(dir,rotation,units). I don’t think any of those three would work out. I’ll try configuring my new drivetrain in last year’s code, and uploading that to see if it works.

4

There are many more motor functions besides the 3 you mentioned. Some of these include spin(directionType dir, double velocity, velocityUnits units) and spin(directionType dir, double velocity, percentUnits units). An example would be RightMotors.spin(forward, rightMotorSpeed, percent)

A full list of motor functions can be here: VEXcode API Reference vex::motor

5

I added a few comments to the code and removed the default comments for readability.