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Vex Robotics Beginner Guide

This is a guide for new people to learn basics terms and concepts of robotics (specifically VEX
EDR) faster and does not substitute a mentor so feel free to ask questions to learn more
advanced information and processes.

● Rule one to robotics - there is not such thing as too much stability
● Rule two to robotics - it is worth the extra time to make something perfect the first time, it
will save you time in the long run

Metal
● Length - 2 holes are around 1 inch
○ Ex. 20 hole long piece of metal is around 10 inches, 35 holes around 17.5
● 2 types
○ Aluminum - white/gray colored, lighter and weaker
■ Most popular because it’s strong enough for most situations
○ Steel - cobalt blue colored, heavier but stronger
■ Usually NOT used because Aluminum is usually strong enough
● Aluminum ● Steel

Plates - Usually 5 (holes) wide

- Weak (bendy) so not usually used
- Used for mounting things such as a
cortex

1-Bars - 1 (holes) wide

- Long/thin and extremely lightweight
- Weak (bendy) so not usually used
- Used for slight support or small/unique
gadgets
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C-Channel - 2, 3, 5 (holes) wides

- Very strong and sturdy
- Used primarily for structure
- Most common
- There are 1 wide c-channels, but they
are usually hand made and are not 5 wide
supported by vex

3 wide 2 wide

Angle - 2 or 1 (holes) wide

- strong and sturdy (less so than a
c-channel)
- Used primarily for structure
- C-channels can be cut in half to make
2 angled pieces for a smaller and
lighter piece

Rails - 2 wide
- strong and sturdy (less so than a
c-channel)
- Used primarily for structure

Linear slides - Very strong and sturdy

- Used to translate rotary motion into
perfectly linear motion
- 2 parts - Both parts are the same
shape but one is smaller so it can go
into the other
- Unstable at distances greater than 18
inches
- Generally have a lot of friction
- Lubricating decreases it
(makes it run better)
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Motion Parts
● Shafts (Axles)
○ High strength (1/4" width) vs regular (0.125" width)

○ Used whenever there rotation is required, screws and sometimes used

■ Generally low strength ones are used
● Shaft Hardware
Bearings - Attached to metal, 2 screws + 1 axle
(motor - Reduces friction and allows for smooth
mounts) rotation, prevents damage
- Used to connect motors
- Also called motor mounts
- Pillow boxes perform the above functions
but the hole is 90॰ to the orientation
- Lock bars restrict an axle from moving
relative to the connected metal

Spacers - Used to fill empty space on an axle

- Prevents side to side motion
- White spacers, Nylon (⅛”,¼”,⅜”,½”)
- Black spacers, Plastic (4.6mm, 8mm)
- Shaft Collar- act as mechanical stops for
axles
- Washers - used for precision spacing
- White (Teflon), Gray (Streaks eel)

● High Strength vs Low Strength (gears and sprockets)

○ Usually use high strength because low strength is too weak for most situations
○ Use low strength for small things requiring weight reduction
● Gears (4 different sizes)
○ Used to transfer rotation throughout a robot
■ Change the speed/torque of a moving part, or the direction of rotation
○ 4 different sizes: 12 tooth (metal), 36, 60, 84 tooth (plastic)
● Sprockets & Chain
○ The teeth of the sprocket connect indirectly with each other by chain
■ Can change speed/torque but everything spin in the same direction
○ 5 different sizes: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 tooth (High); 10, 15, 24, 40, 48 tooth (Low)
○ Used to connect different parts of motion over long distances
○ Should ​not ​be used to link 2 gears that are powered separately
○ Chain can also have tank treads or other accessories attached if needed
● Special gears
○ Consult your mentors for more information
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Low Stren. High Stren. Special Low sprock. High sprock.

● Gear Ratios
○ The Mechanical Advantage (MA) of a gear system
■ How much it amplifies the force
○ Gear Ratios (# of times a 2nd gear spins in relation to the 1st gear)
■ Driving:Driven or Driven/Driving, most often used, ex. 1:1, 1:5, 1:7
○ Can be geared for more speed or Torque
■ Torque - More rotational force, less speed (rpm), higher MA
■ Speed - More speed (rpm) , less rotational force, lower MA
○ Idle gear - all the gears between the driving and driven gear.
■ Only affect direction unless they are in a compound gear system
● (different sized gears on the same axle, more complicated)
○ Most gearing in robotics is to torque
● Wheels
Omni-Directional - Most commonly used wheel type
Wheel - It is a large wheel with smaller wheels going
along the outside which allows it to have
sideways motion
- Allows for good turning

Mecanum - Allows for an x-drive to be built with a

Wheels regular chassis
- X-drive - special kind of drive, more
maneuverability, less speed
- Not generally used

Random Wheels - Quite a few types of wheels

- Could be used if the situation arises, but
generally not used

● Pneumatics
○ Probably won't use
■ Can be single acting or double acting pistons
■ Consult your mentors for more information
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Hardware
8-32 (dia) Screw - For nuts, standoffs, shaft collars
- 0.25, 0.375, 0.5, 0.625, 0.75, 0.875, 1.0, 1.25,
1.5, 1.75, 2.0 inches

6-32 (dia) Screw - For motors, rack gear attachments

- 0.25, 0.5 inches

Hex Nut - Standard nut, not generally used, may be used

for prototyping

Kep Nut - Most often used, prototyping or final build

- Easy to put on, when tightened it grips into the
metal with its “teeth” on its bottom
- Can come loose if not tightened well

Nylock nut - Used a lot as well but hard to put on

- Requires a wrench to tighten
- Strong and doesn’t come loose
- Can be used with a screw for a rotating joint

Standoffs - Used to “stand”/attach metal off of each other

- Good for structure, lightweight
- Can be combined by couplers
- (screws with no round top)
- 8-32 screws

Rubber Link - Can be used to attach standoffs at special

angles
- Not generally used

Hinges - Used to make a joint

- Usually for things that need to be deployed
outside the 18”

Gussets - Various items that help improve structure

- May not be used if it’s inconvenient and the
robot is sturdy enough
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Tools
● Allen Keys/Drivers
○ Used to loosen or tighten screws, most Common Screw Head in Vex is Hex
○ 3/32” Keys used for 8-32 screws (larger),
○ 5/64” Keys used for 6-32 screws (smaller), set screws for shaft collars

○ or or
○ Ball point Hex keys allows for angled used; good for hard to reach areas/angles

● Torx Star Keys

○ New and may or may not be used
○ Screws are the exact same except for the head
○ 8-32 screws with T15 sized keys

○ ← Screwdriver bit ← Screw Head

○ 6-32 screws with T8 sized keys
● Wrench
○ Used to rotate nuts and standoffs

○ Larger side for nuts → ← smaller side for standoffs

○ Used to rotate nuts or keep them still; the long length allows for high torque
making it perfect for tightening it really well
● Safety Glasses - Wear These when using power tools or a hacksaw, don’t be dumb
● Power Tools
○ Not for use by new and untrained members (get PERMISSION before use)
○ Rotary tool/portable drill/dremel - Used to cut or sand things in particular metal
○ Angle Grinder- it’s like a dremel, but bigger, shaped different.
○ Drill press- Used for drilling
○ Grinder- Used for grinding
○ Sander- Used for sanding
● Other Common Tools
○ Pliers - used to grab and hold onto things, pull things apart
○ Scissors/Zip-Tie cutters - cuts string, zip times, wires if need be, and other things
○ File/Sandpaper - used to smooth items out or decrease length by a tiny amount
○ Hacksaw - Don't use without permission. Use for cutting metal precisely
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Electronics
- The parts that tell the robot to run
- There parts with are before the v5, some may still be usable with “legacy” ports
Cortex - The brain of the robot
- 10 motor ports
- 8 analog and 12 digital sensor ports
- 3 I2C ports
- Code is downloaded and stored on this

Joystick & - Used to control the robot manually

VexNets - Requires 6 AAA batteries
- 2 joysticks, 8 top buttons, 4 back buttons
- Can be connected to the robot with a usb-usb
cable or wirelessly via vexNets
- Need two vexNets
- Can be connected to another special joystick
for dual control with a cable

Motor Controller - Used to connect motors it ports 2-9

- Convert the motor wire from 2 to 3 pins
- Helps control the motor
- Ports 1 and 10 don’t require one

Wires / Y-Splits - Act as an extension of the wire

- 2 pin extenders connect before the motor
controller (very rare)
- 3 pin extenders connect to sensors and after
a motor controller
- Y-Cables allow for 2 motors to be connected
into one motor (3 pins)

Motors (393) - The primary source of motion on your robot.

/Servos - You can either use 12 motors OR 10 motors
and pneumatics
- Servos are mini motors with a limited range of
rotation, not generally used
- Can be geared most Torque, speed, and
turbo
- Torque - most force, slowest
- Speed - medium
- Turbo - fastests but less force

LCD Display - Has an interactive display that can be

programmed (3 buttons)
- Used to display information or select auton
- Uses a 4 pin Y-cable
- Plugs into the I2C ports
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Batteries - Main (blue) batteries charge everything

- 2000 mAh (bottom) almost never used
- 3000 mAh (top) most used
- Can run on safe and fast charge
- Never charge on fast for long periods of time
- Should be charged upt to 8.5Vs
- Power expander can be added to spread out
the load of motors onto two batteries
- Expander contains 4 motor ports
- Backup Battery - required at competitions
- Keeps the cortex/VexNets alive if the
main battery dies

- Sensors
Limit Switches - Act as buttons, both digital sensors
and Bumper - Give a value of 1 (pressed) and 0 (released)
Switch - The limit switch (right) is more fragile and
sensitive

Ultrasonic - Uses echolocation to determine a distance

- From ​1.5” to 115”, ​analog sensor

Quaniture - Detects the amount of rotation

encoders - unlimited range, digital sensor
- 90 “ticks” for one revolution (360°)

Potentiometers - Detects the amount of rotation, analog

- Only 250 degrees of range
- 4095 “points” that the sensor can
read
- Common among lifts

Programming
- Vex Robotics Beginner Guide Programming
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Lifts/Devices
- Arm
- Most Basic Lift

-
- Four bar lift
- Similar to the arm lift except it contains more arms/bars
- The configuration of the joints allow the gadget at the end to keep its
original angle instead of changing with the arm

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- Six bar lift
- Similar to the 4 bar except it has 6 bars in this configuration
- It goes higher than a 4 bar
- Theoretically it can go to infinity with even numbers (ex. 8 bar), but people
usually stop at 6 because of materials and the number of joints

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- Double reverse four bar (dr4b)
- Two 4 bars that are connected with a large gear
- Tall but may be unstable, require a lot of materials to build
- Theoretically can use an number bar (ex. Double reverse 6 bar) or have infinity
bars (triple, quadruple, etc.)

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- Scissor lift
- Really tall and hard to build
- Slow and unstable, can easily bend the metal structure
- Not usually used

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- Flywheel
- Used to shoot objects
- Require high gear ratios