Using the Drive Tab in VEXcode GO – VEX Library

VEXcode GO gives you the ability to drive a VEX GO robot directly from your device using a virtual remote control.

Angled view of the GO Code Base robot.

Note: Drive Mode is not available on iPads running iOS 12.

Access the Drive tab in VEXcode GO

VEXcode GO with a green Brain icon on the Toolbar to indicate that the Brain has connected.

To access the Drive tab in VEXcode GO, first ensure the VEX GO Brain is connected to your device. For more information on connecting the Brain to your device, view the connection article from the VEX Library that matches your device.

VEXcode GO with the Drive tab highlighted to the right of the Code tab.

Next, select the Drive tab. VEXcode GO will switch from coding mode to the driving mode.

Drive Mode

Once in Drive mode, you can drive your VEX GO robot using the joysticks at the bottom of the screen.

Note: Be sure to follow the motor connections within the Code Base build. The left drive motor goes in Port 4 and right drive motor goes into Port 1

You can change the type of joystick control for your robot by switching the Drive Mode to one of four different options:

Tank Drive
Left Arcade
Right Arcade
Split Arcade

Tank Drive

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Tank Drive button highlighted in the Drive Mode section.

Tank drive uses both joysticks. Select the Tank Drive icon. Two joysticks will be visible.

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Tank Drive option selected and the left and right joystick buttons highlighted. The left joystick has a note written above saying left motor forward and a note below saying left motor reverse. The right joystick has a note written above saying right motor forward and a note below saying right motor reverse.

The left joystick will move the left motor forward when moved up, and the left motor backwards when it is moved down. The right joystick works in the same way for the right motor.

To move your robot forward, move both joysticks up.
To move backward, move both joysticks down.
To turn your robot to the right, move your left joystick up and/or the right joystick down.
To turn your robotto the left, move the right joystick up and/or the left joystick down.

Left Arcade

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Left Arcade button highlighted in the Drive Mode section.

The left arcade only uses one joystick. Select the left arcade icon. The left joystick will be visible.

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Left Arcade option selected and the left joystick button highlighted. The right joystick is not available or used in this Drive Mode.

To move your robot forward, move the joystick up.
To move your robot backward, move the joystick down.
To turn your robot to the right, move the joystick to the right.
To turn your robot left, move the joystick to the left.

Right Arcade

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Right Arcade button highlighted in the Drive Mode section.

The Right arcade only uses one joystick. Select the Right arcade icon. The Right joystick will be visible.

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Right Arcade option selected and the right joystick button highlighted. The left joystick is not available or used in this Drive Mode.

To move your robot forward, move the joystick up.
To move your robot backward, move the joystick down.
To turn your robot to the right, move the joystick to the right.
To turn your robot to the left, move the joystick to the left.

Split Arcade

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Split Arcade button highlighted in the Drive Mode section.

The Split arcade uses two joysticks. Select the Split arcade icon. Both joysticks will be visible.

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Split Arcade option selected and the left and right joystick buttons highlighted.

To move your robot forward, move the left joystick up.
To move your robot backward, move the left joystick down.
To turn your robot to the right, move the right joystick to the right.
To turn your robot left, move the right joystick to the left.

Arrow Icons

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Port 2 Arrow Icons highlighted next to the left joystick.

The Remote Interface also has Arrow icons. These are two sets of green and red arrows.

The left set of arrows controls either the LED Bumper or a motor depending on which is plugged into Smart Port 2. The right set of arrows controls either the Electromagnet or a motor depending which is plugged into Smart Port 3.

The Smart Port 2 arrows make:

LED Bumper turn green (green arrow)
LED Bumper turn red (red arrow)
Spin the motor in Smart Port 2 forward with the green arrow (similar to using the VEX GO Switch)
Spin the motor in Smart Port 2 in reverse with the red arrow (similar to using the VEX GO Switch)

If no arrows are pressed, the LED Bumper turns off or the motor stops spinning.

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Port 3 Arrow Icons highlighted next to the right joystick.

The Smart Port 3 arrows make:

The Electromagnet boost (green arrow)
The Electromagnet drop (red arrow)
Spin the motor in Smart Port 3 forward with the green arrow (similar to using the VEX GO Switch)
Spin the motor in Smart Port 3 in reverse with the red arrow (similar to using the VEX GO Switch)

If no Arrows are pressed, the Electromagnet is not activated or the motor stops spinning.

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Port 2 and Port 3 options highlighted. Port 2 has options to control an LED Bumper or a Motor, and Port 3 has options to control an Electromagnet or a Motor.

Changing the settings in the middle boxes selects what kind of device you have in Smart Port 2 and 3.

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Timer options highlighted. Above is a Reset Timer button, in the center is a display of the current time, and below is a Start Timer button.

Note: There is also a timer you can use to measure your drive time.

The Remote Interface will allow you to control two Drive motors and also control up to two additional motors using the Direction icons.

Sensor Display

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Sensor Display section highlighted. This section has four columns of sensor values from different devices, including the Brain, Drivetrain, LED Bumper, and Eye Sensor.

The Drive tab display also has a set of feedbacks and measurements for the VEX GO Sensors.

Brain section of the Sensor Display, with four listed sensor values. First is the Battery in percent and then the X, Y, and Z axis acceleration values in G's.

These include feedback from the:

Brain
Drivetrain
LED Bumper
Eye Sensor

Brain: The Sensor display provides feedback from the Brain for the percent battery charge and the onboard accelerometer with readings for acceleration in the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis.

Drivetrain section of the Sensor Display, with three listed sensor values. First is the Velocity in percent and then the Heading and Rotation values in degrees.

Drivetrain: The Sensor Display for the Drivetrain provides measurement for velocity, heading, and rotation.

LED Bumper section of the Sensor Display with one listed sensor value that reads Pressed? and returns a boolean value.

LED Bumper: The Sensor Display for the LED Bumper indicates whether the LED Bumper is pressed (TRUE) or not (FALSE).

Eye Sensor section of the Sensor Display, with six listed sensor values. First is the Found Object value that returns a boolean, followed by the Detect Red, Blue, and Green values that each return a boolean. Lastly is the Brightness value in percent and the Hue value in degrees.

Color wheel demonstrating how the 360 degree circle correlates to a hue value. The color red is at a degree of 0, the color green is at a degree of 120, and the color blue is at a degree of 240.

Eye Sensor: The Sensor Display for the Eye Sensor indicates whether an object is found, if the sensor has detected the colors red, blue, or green, the brightness of the light the sensor is measuring, and the degree hue of color the sensor is measuring.

Using the Drive Tab with a VEX GO Competition Robot

All VEX GO Competition robots can be driven with the Drive Tab in VEXcode GO. Build instructions for the VEX GO Competition Hero Robots can be found here.

Angled view of the Competition Base and the Competition Base with Claw Hero Robots, shown side by side.

The Competition Base and Competition Base + Claw Hero Robots can be driven using any of the four Drive modes (left arcade, right arcade, split arcade, and tank drive) shown above.

Angled view of the Competition Advanced Hero Robot.

The Competition Advanced Hero Robot can be driven using any of the Drive modes. The arm motor, however, needs to be configured in order to move the arm using the Drive Tab.

Diagram with the Competition Advanced Hero Robot above and the VEX GO Drive tab screen below. A cable is shown connecting the arm Motor to the second Smart Port on the Hero Robot. Below, the Port 2 mode is changed from LED Bumper to Motor, to enable the user to control the robot's arm with the left Arrow Icons.

In order to control the movement of the arm for the Competition Advance robot, the Port needs to be set to 'MOTOR' in the Drive Tab. Since the arm motor is plugged into Port 2, switch Port 2 to control the arm of the Hero Robot as shown in this image.

Drive tab in VEXcode GO with the Port 2 Arrow Icons highlighted next to the left joystick to indicate that they can now be used to control the Hero Robot's arm.

To control the arm motor, select the red and green arrows. Note that this controls the direction the motor spins, not necessarily the direction the arm moves. Students will need to press the red arrow in order to move the arm of the robot up and the green arrow to move the arm down.