Hi all, we are new to VEX competitions, and I am having the kids work on code. We have successfully tested some and I will be going through some tutorials as well. That said…
it says the autonomous period is 15 seconds long and you have to complete four tasks (and the manual says what they are) – well and good, but I have to say that it doesn’t seem entirely physically possible to complete those tasks in 15 seconds, but maybe someone has.
More to the point, how does the “handover” work? Do you have to set up the code to do that? We’ve gotten the controller to function well enough. But how does one “switch” on the fly? I have only, prior to this, worked with the older cortex models and on that you’d have to stop, hook it up to a PC, and re-download the code.
(also is there a way to see from the PC what code is running on the 'bot? THe touch panel says a program is running and you can start it from there, which is pretty cool, but I don’t see a way to check what the actual blocks it is running “look like” on the brain; is there a “window” into that?)
Anyhow I appreciate any help. (And please, don’t do the equivalent of RT*M, if I could have found it that way I wouldn’t be asking. Maybe I missed it in there but our team was under some pretty hard time constraints)
15 second autonomous is for in match. there are also skills autonomous and drivers skills. If you are using CPP use the competition template and have MULTIPLE codes for each side of the field (15 second auton) If you have the one minute auton make a third auton code that is for the 1 minute auton period. Drivers is just the driver getting as many points fro one minute.
Also, those 4 tasks you have to complete with your alliance partner in the matches for example, lets say your team scores two rings on a mobil goal and your alliance scores one on a mobile goal and they touch the ladder. You guys get the win point for your autonomous period. I don’t know a way about seeing the code on the brain but I’m sure there is a tutorial on youtube. From what I have read what you had wrote, that’s as much information I could give since I am a first year as well and that’s pretty much all I have learned from being a coder at this point. I need some more clarification on the “handover” part so I can help futher on. Hope this helps!
OK I am having a little trouble understanding your response, I apologize.
“15 second autonomous is for in match” – um, right. But that isn’t quite what I was trying to ask. In match means… ? You mean when the match starts? Ends?
Is the autonomous part at the beginning or the end of the time?
" If you are using CPP use the competition template and have MULTIPLE codes for each side of the field (15 second auton) "
I really, really, really cannot understand what you are saying here. CPP? What is that? When you say multiple codes for each side of the field, what exactly do you mean? Mutliple strings of code? Multiple programs?
Watch some matches from competitions. I’m sure if you search YouTube for “Vex High Stakes” you’ll find examples enough to understand the flow of a match.
cpp is the coding language c++. what I think @DevBonk4265V was saying is that if you have different routes for each side of the field you can use threads to create a system where you can select which route you do. you can do it for the same program, for instance at the start, when we first run our code, we press a button on our brain to select which auton we want to run
Thanks, I am still having some trouble – even after watching the videos – figuring out what exactly happens when.
As I understand it there are 15 seconds when the robot moves autonomously.
OK, great. Then they switch to driver control. Is that done remotely? Can we walk out to the robot abd push a button (ok a touch screen) on the robot brain?
I assume the virtual skills, driving skills, etc are all separate from the alliance matches, right?
Do we need to worry about which alliance we are in for the “other” matches? (Driving skills, virtual)
You can see the 15 second autonomous starts through “Field Control” (e.g. something that the referees control).
After the 15 second autonomous concludes, the referees determine who won the auton bonus (and, during the qualification rounds the Autonomous Win Point, if any). The robots are “disabled” at this time, much as they were prior to the start of auton. Field control takes care of this.
In general, after the autonomous starts, competitors are not allowed to touch their robots at all, even between phases.
After the auton bonus is determined, field control activates the driver control and the competitors use their joysticks to control the robot they built and programmed.
Based on your questions thus far, I would really suggest you use VEX V5 Robotics Competition : Robot Events to find an event near where you live and see one in person, even for just a little bit.
When you use a competition template, put your auton code under that auton function and drive control under drive control and the field control (you plug into a cable into your controller when you are at the field) will run the appropriate code for you. It will also disable at the appropriate times. If you need help coding check out the v5 knowledge base.