Powerful processors, combined with the VEXos operating system, allows V5 to tap into the next generation of educational robotics.
V5 uses a new technology we call “Centralized Intelligence”, which provides the user processor with all sensor information. All Smart Sensors have their own processor, which allows them to simultaneously collect and process data as fast as possible. New information is instantaneously sent to the user processor’s high speed local RAM without interrupting the processor. Each time a line of code calls for sensor data as a user’s program runs, such as motor position, the most recent calculation is instantly accessed from memory.
“The user processor essentially knows all sensor data instantaneously.”
Sensor data communication to the Brain uses RS-485 - much like CAN without the overhead - which is immune to noise. Each sensor is the manager controller for its own 1.5 Mbps bus, which means it controls when and how often data is sent to the Brain.
The V5 Robot Brain has 21 Smart Ports available. Each of these are equipped with a digital circuit breaker, called an eFuse, that allow for short circuit protection without limiting motor performance. These eFuses allowed us to eliminate the PTC devices in the brain and motors that limited performance in the Cortex system.
| Brain Programming | ||
|---|---|---|
| Events when( STARTED ) when( Brain.LCD.PRESSED ) Settings Brain.Screen.setCursor() Brain.Screen.setFont() Brain.Screen.setPenColor() Brain.Screen.setPenWidth() Brain.resetTimer() |
Actions Brain.Screen.print() Brain.Screen.clearScreen() Brain.Screen.clearLine() Brain.Screen.newLine() Brain.Screen.drawPixel() Brain.Screen.drawLine() Brain.Screen.drawRect() Brain.Screen.drawCircle() |
Sensing Battery.batteryLevel() Battery.temperature() Brain.Screen.pressingX() Brain.Screen.pressingY() Brain.timer() |
| V5 Robot Brain Specifications | Cortex Microcontroller | |
|---|---|---|
| Motor Ports | Use any of the 21 Smart Ports | 10 |
| Smart Sensor Ports | Use any of the 21 Smart Ports | |
| Radio Ports | Use any of the 21 Smart Ports | |
| Tether Ports | Use any of the 21 Smart Ports | remove radios, use USB cable |
| Digital Ports | Use any of the 8 built-in 3-Wire Ports | 12 |
| Analog Ports | Use any of the 8 built-in 3-Wire Ports | 8 |
| 3-Wire Expansion | Add 8 more ports using a 3-Wire Expander. The 3-Wire Expander uses one Smart Port. |
|
| VEXos Processor | One Cortex A9 at 667 MHz Two Cortex M0 at 32 MHz each One FPGA1 |
ARM7 |
| User Processor | One Cortex A9 1333 Million Instructions per second (MIPS) |
Cortex M3 90 MIPS |
| Ram | 128 MBytes | 0.0625 MBytes |
| Flash | 32 MBytes | 0.375 MBytes |
| User Program Slots | 8 | 1 |
| USB | 2.0 High Speed (480 Mbit/s) | Full Speed (12 Mbit/s) |
| Color Touch Screen | 4.25”, 480 x 272 pixels, 65k colors | |
| Expansion | microSD up to 16 GB, FAT32 format | |
| Wireless | VEXnet 3 and Bluetooth 4.2 | VEXnet 2 |
| System Voltage | 12.8 V | 7.2 V |
| Size | 4.0” W x 5.5” H x 1.3” D | 4.5” W x 3.9” H x 1.0” D |
| Weight | 0.63 lbs (285g) | 0.30 lbs (137g) |
1. A Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an electronic component used to build reconfigurable digital circuits. The V5 Brain uses the FPGA for touch screen inputs, screen layering, 60 Hz screen refreshing, timers, and the 21 smart ports.