so i am planning out a robot similar to Zippy or Steve the robot and the one snag that i keep running into is the tread conveyor belt. i has hoping that i could control them with channels 5 and 6. 5 to suck up cubes and 6 to dump them. but i don’t know how to make the motors run in opposite direction yet still use one channel.
Thanks
~DK
If you use EasyC, you can use the Tank command (2 motor) to control 2 motors at once in opposite directions.
Or you can use 2 separate commands to map each motor (say, Motors 1 & 2) to the same channel (say, Channel 5). Use one command to program Channel 5 to control Motor 1, then another command to program Channel 5 to control Motor 2, but in the inverse direction.
You only need one channel (say, Channel 5) to both slurp up and dump. There are 2 buttons for Channel 5 on the bottom of the transmitter – one runs the motors in the forward direction, and the other moves them in reverse.
i did not completely understand that. i also should make it clear that i am not a programmer and did not get the programing kit for this reason. is there a way to get around my dilemma without programming? ManicMechanic it sounds like your idea involves programming (correct)? is there a way to do it without programming?
if you plan on building this for the Vex Elevation… you would probably want to get the programing kit. (it’s program is called easy-C for a reason… it’s not too hard to learn how to program the vex w/ it if you’r willing to give it a shot)
its not for elevation just for fun.
You won’t get very far without the programming kit, at least for more than just very basic robots. I imagine if you put the motors on ch5/6 and then figured out which was wrong, you could use the remote to “reverse” that channel.
So for example, holding both top buttons down (on the back) would snarf them up, holding both bottom ones down would spit them out.
You could probably even run them from one motor, just connect the two sets of treads with an even or odd number of gears (one or the other will get the other side rotating in the direction you want it, since 2 gears reverses direction and 3 re-reverses it (going in the same way as the input).
You need to read the Inventors Guide - Appendix D Control Configurations on the default code.
For example, see page 2. If you look at it, Channel 5 runs Motor 5 and Motor 7 in opposite directions. Connect your tread motors to those ports. Then it’s one button of Channel 5 to load cubes, the other button unloads them.
The default program that comes with the controller is one of the best parts of the Vex kit. You can make some very complex robots that use the default programming. The default code supports arcade, tank, two drive, four drive and dual transmitter setups. Lots of variety and possibilities.
Whoever did the initial programming did a great job on creating a very flexible system. While I consider myself a decent programmer, about 75% of the robots I create use just the default program. Key is that you MUST read and understand the documentation. It’s only 18 pages, so it won’t take you long.
Foster you are the best. thanks a million
Gasp… the manual had the answer (i should really get one of those)
actually I’m not allowed to use my kit until my birthday (June- I’ll never survive) and i couldn’t find the online manual. so while i plan this is my only resource. (i have been doing A LOT of planning it is the closest thing to using vex i can do. luckily i can use vex at school for my robotics class.
Yep, I was referring to reprogramming the channels using software. But it looks like Foster has you pointed to the right solution without programming.
Yolande
P.S. I’m a lousy programmer, but EasyC can be managed by people like me. It has a pretty good tutorial to get you started.
Actually, Foster supplied the link to that part of the manual for you (see his quote above), but if you still can’t get it to work - PDF files of the entire manual can be found on the “Support” page. You can view them and/or print them out.
Sorry you have to wait until your birthday in June to start using your kit, but maybe looking over the manual will help past the time and even give you some more ideas!