Running the Drive Program with the V5 Brain – VEX Library

Running the Drive Program

The Drive program is a default program built into the VEX V5 Robot Brain so it can be used with Smart Motors, Sensors, and the VEX V5 Controller without programming. The Drive program maps the Controller's joysticks and buttons to control specific Smart Ports on the Brain. To begin, follow the steps below:

Make sure the V5 Robot Brain is on and Controller Paired.

Have your V5 Robot Battery charged and connected to the V5 Robot Brain so you can power it on. For more information on Pairing the V5 Controller with the V5 Brain, check out this article from the VEX Library.

Step 1: Select the Drive Icon

Select the Drive icon by tapping on it to bring up the Drive screen.

Diagram illustrating the components and features of the V5 Robot Brain, including ports, indicators, and connections, as part of the V5 Category Description.

Tap the Wiring icon to review port configurations to ensure everything is controlled correctly.

Diagram of the V5 Robot Brain components, illustrating the layout and connections of various parts, including ports, power supply, and communication interfaces, relevant to VEX robotics systems.

Check that the devices on your build adhere to the Driver Program defaults. Failure to do this may result in multiple, unrelated motors being powered by the same Controller input. Note that not ALL devices have to be connected in order for this program to run. To view additional ports, select "2", "3", "4", or "5" on the right side of your brain as shown. Press the power button to go back to the previous step.

Step 2: Select the Run Icon

Tap the Run icon to start the program.

You can tap Stop to stop the program, monitor the running time, or tap the Devices icon to see the connected ports and readings.

Controller Configurations

There are four different configurations of the Driver Control Program on the Brain: Left, Dual, Split, and Right. Follow the steps below to learn what each of the four configurations are and how to select them on the Brain.

V5 Robot Brain diagram illustrating key components and connections, including ports, power input, and communication interfaces, relevant to VEX Robotics systems.

Select the Drive icon by tapping on it to bring up the Drive Screen.

Diagram of the VEX V5 Robot Brain, illustrating its components and connections, including ports, sensors, and power supply, relevant to the V5 Category Description.

Select the Controls icon by tapping on it to bring up the Controls Screen.

Each of the four driver control options allows you to control the robot using the joysticks in different ways.

Configuration Description	Joystick Controls
Left Drive the robot forward, reverse, left, and right all using the left joystick.
Dual Drive the left motor of the robot using the left joystick, and the right motor of the robot using the right joystick.
Split Drive the robot left and right using the right joystick, and forward and reverse using the left joystick.
Right Drive the robot forward, reverse, left, and right all using the right joystick.

Customizing Driver Control

Diagram illustrating the components and features of the VEX V5 Robot Brain, including ports, indicators, and connections, as part of the V5 Category Description.

To further customize the Driver Control program you can select the Devices icon window to:

Change the direction of the motor movement for each set of buttons by reversing the direction from ‘Normal’ to ‘Reverse’, as shown in these images.

Diagram of the V5 Robot Brain components, illustrating the layout and connections of various parts, including ports, power supply, and communication interfaces, relevant to VEX robotics systems.

Change which buttons are used to control which motors:

Change which port the motor is physically plugged into on the Brain
Look at the Wiring window to check that your motor is connected to the desired buttons