hey just wondering what the team coders do before the bot is done my coder is new and he is just kinda chillin and he tells me that he wants to help but dosnt want to help build what should we do
thx in advance
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he can learn more advanced code and try to code a basic auton and other stuff for the bot so he just has to adjust stuff when it’s done.
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he has done a basic code for bolth sides as far as more complex code can u elaborate
does he know how to do Odometry and PID? Unless he is some kind of coding god he should be trying to learn more complex functions and stuff to improve driver control and auton consistency.
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where would he learn these
all his codeing knoledge is what i taught him but my experience was 2 years of modkit in iq and one 8th grade codeing class in which the teacher never coded before and i taught her more than she taught me isant much so no he is no god
Contrary to popular belief, programmers can do many things even while the builders are building the robot.
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They can spend time making macros for driver control, maybe not fully functional macros, but change a variable here and there and viola.
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They can spend time learning new, more advanced control schemes, or maybe even another language.
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They can plan out autonomous runs, and get general ideas of how the robot will run on the field.
All of these are very helpful to the team and sooner then later your programmer will be able to code faster and create programs more effectively if they try to learn on their own.
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1 what is marcos
2 he knows 0 codeing langueges
3 we did that
@Gameoa and @Riptide do u guys have any links or sites that will help
also what is marcos
Well then
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have him learn a programming language at meets
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have him commune with the driver to design extra functions to make the drivers life easier.
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have him code numerous different autons. With good coding, you can put multiple autons in one code slot
Ex. Stack in the small zone, stack in the large zone, go for the alliance tower, pick up 2 stacks, score in a low tower, etc.
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Macros are automated functions programmed into the robot for use in driver control.
For instance in ITZ many teams used auto stacking programs to stack cones faster and more reliably than a driver could. In TP many teams had macros for most of the functions a robot could perform (intaking/shooting balls, changing hood/puncher angles, changing cap flipper angles, etc.)
Some good videos of macros in action Macro and automation explanation - YouTube
1814D Delta IV Macros/Automation Explanation - YouTube
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iv used marcos i didnt know it was caled that i just called it semi-aton
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In my free time I usually am on the vex forum, but its often programming stuff so whatever. I am always trying to improve our code with the little things. Some examples are a button pressing system for autonomous selection and a button system to get our arm at tower heights. Your programmer won’t realistically be working on the code all the time, but should be learning along the way.
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i did that in next level we had that and a auto stack
thx all for the input where could he learn this stuff i could maybe teach him marcos but i also gotta be building
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@Gameoa @Railgunawesome or @Riptide do any of u guys have any links or sites or videos where my coder could start??
Ah yes. Glad you asked 
Learncpp.com is helpful.
So is the vex knowledge base. Try help.vex.com
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Our teacher gave us this to use to help code
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Before the robot is done coders study hard in their math and computer science classes.
Edit:
If your school has enough parts, then programmers from several teams could build a simple chassis together and practice writing drive PID or more sophisticated odometry for autonomous programming.
In my school we hold a mini competition among programmers from different teams, who could write a better autonomous code for the same simple robot that we build for testing.
It has to navigate complex route and winner is chosen by how far from the target location you stopped. Each gate you topple along the way adds 10cm to your final score.
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Most programmers before the robot is done work on the autonomous library which isn’t really specific to the robot.
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All of this is for the vex v5 text coding studio.
I would focus on making yourself VERY familiar with the vex API it will save you a lot of hassle down the line. You can also work on the basic code of motor declaration and controller layout without a robot. Just hook up some motors to a brain and starting testing. Another thing that is good to work on is learning some more advanced programming topics such as PID controllers. I will link some resources below that may be of use to you. Also feel free to send me a pm if you have any questions at all.
As others have said start your auto layout. Figure out what you want to do and how you plan to do it in an abstract sense. Planning is an important aspect of building any software or piece of code. You may not know how you are planning on collecting the blocks but you do know that you will have to move your robot around. You can plan the basic movement of your robot in auto without the robot itself.
Documentation
Documentation for the api can be found at any of these sites if you can not find what you are looking for on one check the others.
- VEX Help (best IMHO but some stuff is not on here such as motor_groups see jpearmans post if you need info on that)
- https://www.robotmesh.com/docs/vexv5-cpp/html/namespacevex.html (almost the same as above)
- VCS API Reference (Official site but is quite lacking IMHO)
Some topics that would be good to familiarize yourself with if you have some extra free time:
- Check the example code that is provided to you in the coding studio. (File → Open Example) they can provide a lot of help when trying to figure out how to use new functions or set things up.
- PID Controllers (Advanced)
- Encoders In V5
- Vision Sensor (if you have one or are planning on using one it can be a bit confusing at first but its really easy once you get the basics feel free to message me for help.) Resource for setup: https://help.vex.com/article/403-how-to-import-vex-projects-to-vexcode-v5-text
- Tasks/Threads
- Printing to terminal
- Printing to brain/controller
- Whatever else interests you! Honestly you will learn the most from pursuing what you want to do.
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For some people (like me) learning on the internet doesn’t work to well. Try that out first but if ur coder can’t absorb the information well, try buying a book. Rn I’m reading this:
It’s a really good book that’s really well organized. However, I have previous coding knowledge and I’m reading this to clear up my gaps in knowledge. The author even states that the book isn’t exactly aimed at beginners but mainly at amateurs (not to say it can’t be used by beginners). Also, I’m sure a lot of people know, books on how to code can be really expensive. The book I have rn was 30 an amazon and 60 at my local Barnes and noble, so just make sure the book’s right for u.
Keep in mind this is just another way to learn code. Idk y but I learn better from books and videos than online articles. Try online first then start going into books if it doesn’t work (and if ur budget allows).
PS once ur chassis is built, u can instantly start coding most of ur autonomous functions like odometry and motion algorithms. I would also recommend making GUIs on the brain for things like autonomous selection before the robot is built. That sort of thing makes a world of difference.
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