Screen#

Introduction#

The VEX AIR Drone Controller’s screen provides methods for displaying text, managing the cursor, drawing shapes, and handling touch interactions.

Below is a list of all available methods:

Cursor Print – Display text using a row/column system.

  • print – Prints text at the current cursor position.

  • set_cursor – Sets the cursor to a specific row and column.

  • next_row – Moves the cursor to column 1 of the next row.

  • clear_row – Clears a row of text.

  • get_row – Returns the current cursor row.

  • get_column – Returns the current cursor column.

XY Print – Display text at a specific screen coordinate.

  • print_at – Prints text at a specific x and y location.

  • set_origin – Sets a new origin for printing and drawing.

Mutators – Clear the screen or update visual settings.

  • clear_screen – Clears the screen of all drawings and text.

  • wait_for_render – Wait for drawing and print commands to render on the screen.

  • set_font – Sets the font for printed text.

  • set_pen_width – Sets the thickness for drawn shapes and lines.

  • set_pen_color – Sets the color for outlines and text.

  • set_fill_color – Sets the fill color for shapes and backgrounds.

Draw – Add graphics and images to the screen.

Touch – Detect and respond to screen presses.

  • pressing – Returns whether the screen is currently being pressed.

  • x_position – Returns the x-coordinate where the screen is pressed.

  • y_position – Returns the y-coordinate where the screen is pressed.

Callback – Run functions when the screen is pressed or released.

  • pressed – Registers a function to call when the screen is pressed.

  • released – Registers a function to call when the screen is released.

Cursor Print#

print#

print displays text on the controller’s screen at the current cursor position and font.

Usage:
controller.screen.print(text)

Parameters

Description

text

The text, number, or variable value to display on the screen.

sep

Optional. The separator between printed text. By default, sep = ' '

end

Optional. The string appended after the last printed text. By default, end = '\n'

precision

Optional. The number of decimals a float will print with as an integer. By default, precision = 5

# Display a message at the starting cursor position.
controller.screen.print("Time to fly!")

Shows the drone.screen.print method with the word "Time to Fly!"

# Display the first 2 decimals of pi
controller.screen.print(3.1415, precision = 2)

Shows the drone.screen.print method with the pi at 2 decimals place

set_cursor#

set_cursor places the text cursor at a specific row and column on the screen. The number of rows and columns that fit depends on the selected font. With the default monospaced medium font, the screen can clearly display up to 11 rows and 53 columns. Text placed beyond this range may be cut off or harder to read.

Usage:
controller.screen.set_cursor(row, col)

Parameters

Description

row

The row of the cursor.

column

The column of the cursor.

# Display text starting at Row 7 Column 25.
controller.screen.set_cursor(row=7, col=25)
controller.screen.print("Row 7, Column 25")

Shows the drone.screen.print_at method with Row 7, Column 25 printed at the row 3 column 2

next_row#

next_row moves the cursor to column 1 on the next row on the controller’s screen.

Usage:
controller.screen.next_row()

Parameters

Description

This method has no parameters.

# Display two lines of text.
controller.screen.print("Line 1")
controller.screen.next_row()
controller.screen.print("Line 2")

Shows the controller.screen.next_row method with Line 1 and Line 2 printed on the drone screen in line 1 and line 2 respectively.

clear_row#

clear_row clears a row of text on the controller’s screen.

Usage:
controller.screen.clear_row(row, color)

Parameter

Description

row

Optional. The row to clear. The default is the current cursor row.

color

Optional. The color to apply to the cleared row. If a color is not specified, the set_fill_color is used. Options include:

  • BLACK
  • BLUE
  • CYAN
  • GREEN
  • ORANGE
  • PURPLE
  • RED
  • TRANSPARENT
  • WHITE
  • YELLOW
You can also specify a custom color.

# Display text on two rows.
controller.screen.print("This text stays")
controller.screen.next_row()
controller.screen.print("This text disappears")

# Wait 3 seconds before clearing only the second row.
wait(3, SECONDS)
controller.screen.clear_row(2)

# Turn the 5th row green.
controller.screen.clear_row(5, GREEN)

get_row#

row returns the current row where text will be printed, as an integer.

Usage:
controller.screen.get_row()

Parameters

Description

This method has no parameters.

# Display the cursor's current row.
controller.screen.set_cursor(row=7, col=25)
controller.screen.print(controller.screen.get_row())

Shows the drone.screen.print_at method by showing column number 7 when you set curSor to 7,25

get_column#

column returns the current column where text will be printed, as an integer.

Usage:
controller.screen.get_column()

Parameters

Description

This method has no parameters.

# Display the cursor's current column.
controller.screen.set_cursor(row=7, col=25)
controller.screen.print(controller.screen.get_column())

Shows the drone.screen.print_at method by showing column number 25 when you set curSor to 7,25

XY Print#

set_origin#

set_origin sets the origin (0, 0) used for drawing or printing on the controller’s screen. By default, drawing or printing methods consider the top left corner of the screen as the origin. This method can reset the origin to an alternate (x, y) screen coordinate location.

Usage:
controller.screen.set_origin(x, y)

Parameter

Description

x

The new x-coordinate to set as the origin, given as an integer from 0 to 640.

y

The new y-coordinate to set as the origin, given as an integer from 0 to 480.

# Set the origin to the center of the screen.
controller.screen.set_origin(x=320, y=240)

# Draw a rectangle at the new origin.
controller.screen.draw_rectangle(x=0, y=0, width=80, height=40)

The controller's screen shows a white rectangle with the upper left corner in the center.

Mutators#

clear_screen#

clear_screen clears the controller’s screen of all drawings, text, and images.

Usage:
controller.screen.clear_screen(row, col, color)

Parameter

Description

row

Optional. The x position to set the cursor at after clearing the screen. The default is 1.

col

Optional. The y position to set the cursor at after clearing the screen. The default is 1.

color

Optional. Sets the screen color. To use, you must include all three optional parameters. Options include:

  • BLACK
  • BLUE
  • CYAN
  • GREEN
  • ORANGE
  • PURPLE
  • RED
  • TRANSPARENT
  • WHITE
  • YELLOW
You can also specify a custom color.

# Draw a circle, and clear it after 2 seconds.
controller.screen.draw_circle(x=320, y=240, radius=80)
wait(2, SECONDS)
controller.screen.clear_screen()

# Print two messages in the same spot
controller.screen.print("Hello!")
wait(3,SECONDS)
controller.screen.clear_screen(row=1, col=1)
controller.screen.print("Goodbye!")

# Set the background color of the screen to red.
controller.screen.clear_screen(RED)

wait_for_render#

wait_for_render prevents any following commands from running until all previous drawing and print commands on the screen have finished rendering.

Usage:
controller.screen.wait_for_render()

Parameter

Description

This method has no parameters.

# Display text and images when button 7 is pressed.
controller.screen.wait_for_render()
controller.screen.print("Screen rendered!")
controller.screen.draw_circle(x=320, y=240, radius=80)
while not controller.button7.pressing():
    wait(5, MSEC)
controller.screen.wait_for_render()

The controller's screen shows a white rectangle with the upper left corner in the center.

set_font#

set_font sets the font used for displaying text on the controller’s screen. This font will apply to all text printed with print or print_at. The default font at the start of a project is MONO20.

Usage:
controller.screen.set_font(fontname)

Parameter

Description

fontname

Sets the font to one of the following:

  • MONO12
  • MONO15
  • MONO20
  • MONO24
  • MONO30
  • MONO36
  • MONO40
  • MONO60
  • PROP20
  • PROP24
  • PROP30
  • PROP36
  • PROP40
  • PROP60

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with MONO 12 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 90 across and 37 rows.
MONO12

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with MONO 15 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 70 across and 28 rows.
MONO15

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with MONO 20 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 52 across and 22 rows.
MONO20

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with MONO 24 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 44 across and 18 rows.
MONO24

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with MONO 30 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 34 across and 14 rows.
MONO30

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with MONO 36 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 28 across and 12 rows.
MONO36

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with MONO 40 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 25 across and 11 rows.
MONO40

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with MONO 60 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 16 across and 7 rows.
MONO60

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with PROP 20 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 58 across and 22 rows.
PROP20

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with PROP 24 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 45 across and 18 rows.
PROP24

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with PROP 30 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 37 across and 14 rows.
PROP30

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with PROP 36 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 30 across and 12 rows.
PROP36

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with PROP 40 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 28 across and 11 rows.
PROP40

The controller screen printed numbers and letters with PROP 60 font. On the bottom of the screen, it is 19 across and 7 rows.
PROP60

# Display text using a larger font.
controller.screen.set_font(MONO40)
controller.screen.print("VEX")

The controller's screen shows the word VEX in Mono 40 font in the upper left corner.

set_pen_width#

set_pen_width sets the pen width used for drawing lines and shapes.

Usage:
controller.screen.set_pen_width(width)

Parameter

Description

width

The pen width, given as an integer in pixels.

# Draw a rectangle with a pen width of 10.
controller.screen.set_pen_width(10)
controller.screen.draw_rectangle(x=200, y=200, width=200, height=80)

The controller's screen shows a rectangle with a thick border drawn.

set_pen_color#

set_pen_color sets the pen color used for drawing lines, shapes, and printing text.

Usage:
controller.screen.set_pen_color(color)

Parameter

Description

color

Optional. Sets the pen color. Options include:

  • BLACK
  • BLUE
  • CYAN
  • GREEN
  • ORANGE
  • PURPLE
  • RED
  • TRANSPARENT
  • WHITE
  • YELLOW
You can also specify a custom color.

# Draw a rectangle with an orange outline.
controller.screen.set_pen_color(ORANGE)
controller.screen.draw_rectangle(x=200, y=150, width=240, height=150)
controller.screen.set_pen_color(WHITE)
controller.screen.print_at("VEXcode AIR", x=250, y=220)

The controller's screen shows an orange rectangle with a thin border and VEXcode AIR in white in the center of it.

set_fill_color#

set_fill_color sets the fill color used when shapes are drawn.

Usage:
controller.screen.set_fill_color(color)

Parameter

Description

color

Optional. Sets the fill color. Options include:

  • BLACK
  • BLUE
  • CYAN
  • GREEN
  • ORANGE
  • PURPLE
  • RED
  • TRANSPARENT
  • WHITE
  • YELLOW
You can also specify a custom color.

# Draw an orange-filled rectangle with text on top.
controller.screen.set_fill_color(ORANGE)
controller.screen.draw_rectangle(x=200, y=150, width=250, height=150)
controller.screen.print_at("VEXcode AIR", x=250, y=220)

The controller's screen shows a white bordered, orange rectangle with a thin border and VEXcode AIR in white in the center of it.

Draw#

draw_pixel#

draw_pixel draws a pixel at the specified (x, y) screen coordinate in the current pen color. It uses the current pen color set by set_pen_color.

Usage:
controller.screen.draw_pixel(x, y)

Parameter

Description

x

The x-coordinate where the pixel will be drawn, given as an integer from 0 to 640.

y

The y-coordinate where the pixel will be drawn, given as an integer from 0 to 480.

# Draw five pixels in a diagonal.
controller.screen.draw_pixel(x=360, y=200)
controller.screen.draw_pixel(x=340, y=220)
controller.screen.draw_pixel(x=320, y=240)
controller.screen.draw_pixel(x=300, y=260)
controller.screen.draw_pixel(x=280, y=280)

The controller's screen shows five pixels printed in white in a line.

draw_line#

draw_line draws a line from the first specified screen coordinate (x1, y1) to the second specified screen coordinate (x2, y2). It uses the current the pen width set by set_pen_width and pen color set by set_pen_color.

The x and y-coordinates use the default origin of (0, 0) unless a different origin has been set using set_origin.

Usage:
controller.screen.draw_line(x1, y1, x2, y2)

Parameter

Description

x1

The starting x-coordinate of the line, given as an integer from 0 to 640.

y1

The starting y-coordinate of the line, given as an integer from 0 to 480.

x2

The ending x-coordinate of the line, given as an integer from 0 to 640.

y2

The ending y-coordinate of the line, given as an integer from 0 to 480.

# Make an X across the screen.
controller.screen.draw_line(x1=0, y1=0, x2=640, y2=480)
controller.screen.set_pen_color(CYAN)
controller.screen.draw_line(x1=0, y1=480, x2=640, y2=0)

The controller's screen shows an X across the center.

draw_rectangle#

draw_rectangle draws a rectangle with its top-left corner at the specified (x, y) coordinate and a size determined by the given width and height, all measured in pixels. The rectangle’s outline is drawn using the current pen width set by set_pen_width and the pen color set by set_pen_color. The interior is filled with the color set by set_fill_color.

The x and y-coordinates use the default origin of (0, 0) unless a different origin has been set using set_origin.

Usage:
controller.screen.draw_rectangle(x, y, width, height, color)

Parameter

Description

x

The x-coordinate of the top-left corner of the rectangle, given as an integer from 0 to 640.

y

The y-coordinate of the top-left corner of the rectangle, given as an integer from 0 to 480.

width

The width of the rectangle, given as an integer from 0 to 640.

height

The height of the rectangle, given as an integer from 0 to 480.

color

Optional. Sets the outline color of the rectangle. Options include:

  • BLACK
  • BLUE
  • CYAN
  • GREEN
  • ORANGE
  • PURPLE
  • RED
  • TRANSPARENT
  • WHITE
  • YELLOW
You can also specify a custom color.

# Draw two rectangles on the screen.
controller.screen.draw_rectangle(x=0, y=0, width=620, height=460)
controller.screen.set_fill_color(GREEN)
controller.screen.draw_rectangle(x=200, y=180, width=200, height=100)

The controller's screen shows a green rectangle with a thin white border surrounded by a larger white bordered rectangle.

draw_circle#

draw_circle draws a circle with its center at the specified (x, y) coordinate and a size determined by the given radius, all measured in pixels. The circle’s outline is drawn using the current pen width set by set_pen_width and the pen color set by set_pen_color. The interior is filled with the color set by set_fill_color.

The x and y-coordinates use the default origin of (0, 0) unless a different origin has been set using set_origin.

Usage:
controller.screen.draw_circle(x, y, radius, color)

Parameter

Description

x

The x-coordinate of the center of the circle, given as an integer from 0 to 640.

y

The y-coordinate of the center of the circle, given as an integer from 0 to 480.

radius

The radius of the circle, given as an integer from 0 to 480 pixels.

color

Optional. The outline color of the circle. Options include:

  • BLACK
  • BLUE
  • CYAN
  • GREEN
  • ORANGE
  • PURPLE
  • RED
  • TRANSPARENT
  • WHITE
  • YELLOW
You can also specify a custom color.

# Draw one green circle on the screen.
controller.screen.set_fill_color(GREEN)
controller.screen.draw_circle(x=320, y=240, radius=200, color=GREEN)

The controller's screen shows a green circle with a thin white border drawn in the center.

show_file#

show_file draws a custom uploaded image on the controller’s screen, with its position set using the x, y, and center parameters based on the image’s reference point.

Usage:
controller.screen.show_file(file, x, y, scale_width, scale_height, rotate, use_alpha)

Parameter

Description

file

The custom image to use, from IMAGE1 to IMAGE10. The image number matches the number shown in the AIR control panel.

x

The horizontal offset for the image, given as an integer in pixels. Positive values move it right; negative values move it left.

y

The vertical offset for the image, given as an integer in pixels. Positive values move it down; negative values move it up.

scale_width

Optional. The image width being scaled to, given as an integer in pixels.

scale_height

Optional. The image height being scaled to, given as an integer in pixels.

rotation

Optional. The degree which image being rotated to, given as an integer from 0 to 359.

use_alpha

Optional. Use alpha channel for image to show transparent. Options include:

  • True
  • False

# Display uploaded Image 1 in the top left corner.
controller.screen.show_file(IMAGE1, x=0, y=0)

# Display uploaded Image 1 scaled to the full screen.
controller.screen.show_file(IMAGE1, x=65, y=0, scale_width=640, scale_height=480)

# Display uploaded Image 1 with rotation of 180 degrees.
controller.screen.show_file(IMAGE1, x=-65, y=0, rotation=180)

# Upload an image with a transparent background.
# Display uploaded Image 1 with alpha channel enabled.
controller.screen.show_file(IMAGE1, x=0, y=0, use_alpha=True)

Touch#

pressing#

pressing returns whether the controller’s screen is currently being pressed as a Boolean:

  • True – The screen is being pressed.

  • False – The screen is not being pressed.

Usage:
controller.screen.pressing()

Parameters

Description

This method has no parameters.

# Play a sound when the screen is pressed.
while True:
    if controller.screen.pressing():
        controller.sound.play_note("C5", 500)
    wait(5, MSEC)

x_position#

x_position returns the x-coordinate in pixels where the screen was pressed, as an integer from 0 (left) to 640 (right).

A VEX AIR Controller is turned on and facing forward. The dimensions of the screen are listed on the edges of a highlighted red box on the border of the screen. The top left is (0, 0), the top right is (640, 0), the bottom left is (0, 480), the bottom right is (640, 480), and the center is (320, 240).

Usage:
controller.screen.x_position()

Parameters

Description

This method has no parameters.

# Play a high or low note based on where screen is pressed.
while True:
    if controller.screen.pressing():
        if controller.screen.x_position() > 320:
            controller.sound.play_note("C6", 500)
        else:
            controller.sound.play_note("C4", 500)
    wait(5, MSEC)

y_position#

y_position returns the y-coordinate in pixels where the screen was pressed, as an integer from 0 (top) to 480 (bottom).

A VEX AIR Controller is turned on and facing forward. The dimensions of the screen are listed on the edges of a highlighted red box on the border of the screen. The top left is (0, 0), the top right is (640, 0), the bottom left is (0, 480), the bottom right is (640, 480), and the center is (320, 240).

Usage:
controller.screen.y_position()

# Play a high or low note based on where screen is pressed.
while True:
    if controller.screen.pressing():
        if controller.screen.y_position() > 240:
            controller.sound.play_note("C6", 500)
        else:
            controller.sound.play_note("C4", 500)
    wait(5, MSEC)

Callback#

pressed#

pressed registers a method to be called when the controller’s screen is pressed.

Usage:
controller.screen.pressed(callback, arg)

Parameters

Description

callback

A function that is previously defined to execute when the axis’ value changes.

arg

Optional. A tuple containing arguments to pass to the callback function. See Using Functions with Parameters for more information.

# Play a sound when the screen is pressed.
def play_sound():
    controller.sound.play_note("C5", 500)

controller.screen.pressed(play_sound)

released#

released registers a method to be called when the screen is no longer being pressed.

Usage:
controller.screen.released(callback, arg)

Parameters

Description

callback

A function that is previously defined to execute when the axis’ value changes.

arg

Optional. A tuple containing arguments to pass to the callback function. See Using Functions with Parameters for more information.

# Play a sound when the screen is pressed.
def play_sound():
    controller.sound.play_note("C5", 500)
    
controller.screen.released(play_sound)