Students should be comfortable with the device wizard that is incorporated into the VexCode platform. They should be able to add motors (along with setting up its gear cartridge), set up the controller, and select the ports that correspond exactly to what the robot ports are.
VexCode devices are connected using the device wizard. The device wizard is where we set up our robot's configuration. You can enter and exit device mode by clicking the port icon indicated by the arrow.
Once you open it, the setup is pretty self-explanatory. You select the type of device to add and the port it is connected to. Then depending on the device, you may need to add some extra information.
We will look at motors as an example. For this example we will set up a motor but most other devices are similar.
Go to the device wizard and click on “Add a device.”
Once you have clicked that button, a page should open that contains a variety of VEX devices. For now, select motor.
You first select the port that the device is connected to, then give it a name, and check any other parameters that need to be set.
For a motor we can select the configuration of the gear cartridge and set the motor to be reversed if needed. Reversing the motor will make it spin in the opposite direction when told to go forward. This will be helpful for some mechanisms, particularly for a drive base where we usually reverse one side.
After teaching how to set up a motor, have the students complete the following configuration: two motors and a controller.
Now, you must create a 2 motor and controller configuration. This is the configuration for most of our driving challenges. Later we may add more devices.