Ports 1 and 10

VEX Robotics Competition Discussion VRC
1

Can we use ports 1 and 10 on the cortex? Is it possible to just connect the motor directly to the port and/or use 2-wire extension cables? If so, are there any rules or limitations against this?

2

Yes, you can do that. No rules or limitations.

3

Thanks a lot, just wanted to make sure.

4

Are ports 1/10 in any way worse than using a y cable instead? Just wondering.

5

There are some advantages to avoiding ports 1 and 10 when possible. The motor controllers give some level of protection to the cortex. Plugging directly into ports 1 and 10 can sometimes cause the H bridge to burn out and then the port will no longer be usable. There are times it is worth the risk but once that happens, you no longer have that option. Of our three, we only have one cortex with properly functioning ports 1 and 10.

6

I believe @jpearman said once that the built-in RobotC PID functions better for ports 1 and 10, which might give you an advantage (might be misremembering). However, for exactly the reason @blatwell mentioned, our team stays away from using ports 1 and 10 whenever possible.