What is a Vex Gyro?

In the Vex V5 app I am trying to figure out what a gyro is. I think gyro is something to do with finding your position, but I am not entirely sure. Also, is it another part that I have to get off of the website or is it included in the competition starter kit?
Screenshot (1)|666x500
(This is the place I am getting this question from btw)

Im not sure either? I am like 70% sure it is for like your drivetrain and like you said finding your position

1 Like

What is drivetrain xD I am brand new to this

1 Like

a gyro is a sensor used to measure your robots rotation relative to the gyro. The gyro you’re looking at has been discontinued, but if you happen to have one you can still use it. The newish inertial sensor has a gyro and an accelerometer built in. if you want to use that sensor you need to purchase it.

4 Likes

I have a brand new competition starter kit, with that in mind, what option should I choose in that screenshot, and is that option enough for a real competition robot?

doesn’t look like the competition starter kit comes with the inertial sensor. So you can’t use any of them unless you purchase the inertial sensor. You don’t need to use one for a competition robot though, it’s just an additional option to keep track of your robot’s rotation.

ok so your robot can check which direction it is facing essentially. Would an accomplished team have one on its robot?

its a pretty useful sensor, but you can definitely have a good autonomous without one. If you’re at the level where you’ve mastered writing autons using only the motor encoders, then it might be a good idea to get the inertial sensor. But if you haven’t yet, it probably wouldn’t be worth it for you.

4 Likes

The nice thing about using an inerial sensor in your drivetrain for block-based coding is that you can use the “turn for” and “turn to” blocks to make programming your autonomous much, much easier and more accurate. They cost $40 and I would recommend purchasing one if you can.

3 Likes

if you are very new, which it seem like you are, you should concern your self with good build quality and the functionality of your robot. Leaning the code is fun and no that hard if you just look over the templates that vex provides.

2 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.