Running the Drive Program on EXP Brain – VEX Library

The Drive program is a default program built into the VEX EXP Robot Brain so it can be used with Smart Motors, Sensors, and the VEX EXP Controller without programming. The Drive program maps the Controller’s joysticks and buttons to control specific Smart Ports on the Brain.

Watch this video to learn about using the Driver Control program on the Brain.

Step 1: Check that the Smart Ports are properly wired.

EXP Brain is shown from the front, with 10 Port icons that indicate its Smart Ports. The Ports are numbered 1 to 5 on the top side of the Brain, and 6 to 10 below.

Smart Port Number	Device Type	Functionality
1	Smart Motor	Turns using Joystick A
2	N/A	Can be used for a distance sensor
3	Smart Motor	Turns using L buttons
4	Smart Motor	Turns using R buttons
5	Smart Motor	Turns using Joystick D
6	Smart Motor	Turns using Joystick A
7	N/A	Can be used for a distance sensor
8	Smart Motor	Use Up/Down buttons
9	Smart Motor	Use A/B buttons
10	Smart Motor	Turns using Joystick D

Check that Smart Ports 1-10 have the correct types of devices listed in the table above. Note that not ALL devices in all 10 ports have to be connected in order for this program to run. The above is an example list of which devices could be used in which ports.
Check that the Controller is wirelessly connected.

NOTE: To review how to connect devices to Smart Ports properly, see this article.

Step 2: Find and Run the Drive program

There is a program already built into the Brain that allows you to drive the BaseBot using the Controller without having to write any code. Follow the steps below to learn how to run the Driver Control program on the Brain.

Brain powered on with the screen showing the Home menu and with the Drive option selected. The Check button is highlighted.

Press the checkmark to select the highlighted Drive program.

Brain screen is shown in the Drive program menu with the Run option selected. The Check button is highlighted.

Press the checkmark again to run the program.

Brain screen is shown running the Drive program where sensor information is reported in real time as it is driven. The X button is highlighted.

As the program is running, the Brain's screen will look like this image.

To stop the program, select the x button.

Controller Configurations

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

Brain powered on with the screen showing the Home menu and with the Drive option selected. The Check button is highlighted.

Press the checkmark to select the highlighted Drive program.

Brain screen is shown in the Drive program menu with the Controls option selected. The Controls option is the fourth option in the Drive menu. The Left and Right buttons are highlighted.

Use the arrows to highlight the "Controls" option.

Brain screen is shown in the Drive program menu with the Controls option selected. The Check button is highlighted.

Press the checkmark to select the highlighted Controls option.

Toggle through the four different drive options by pressing the checkmark. This process is shown in this animation.

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

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

Customizing Driver Control

Brain screen is shown in the Controls menu with the Motor for the L axis selected. Two screenshots show the Motor's direction being changed from Forward to Reverse.

To further customize the Driver Control program you can use the ‘Controls’ window to:

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

Brain screen is shown in the Controls menu with two Motors connected. The connected Motors are indicated by green port icons, and in this example motors are connected to ports 4 and 8.

Change which buttons are used to control which motors:

Change which port the motor is physically plugged into on the Brain
Look at the ‘Controls’ window to check that your motor is connected to the desired buttons
A connected port will show a green icon (as port 5 shows in the image to the right), while a disconnected port will show a white icon (as ports 4 and 11 show in this image).