Robot-Specific Python

Introduction

The VIQRC 23-24 Full Volume Playground features methods exclusive to the build designed for this Playground, including two motor options and its Optical Sensor.

All standard VEXcode VR methods are available for use in the VIQRC 23-24 Full Volume Playground.

Below is a list of all available Playground-specific methods:

Motion – Move and track the robot’s motors.

• Actions

  • spin – Spins the selected motor or motor group indefinitely.

  • spin_for – Spins a motor or group for a specific distance in degrees or turns.

  • spin_to_position – Spins a motor or motor group to a set position.

  • stop – Stops a specific motor or motor group from spinning.

• Mutators

  • set_position – Sets the encoder value of a motor or motor group.

  • set_velocity – Sets the speed of a motor or motor group as a percentage.

  • set_timeout – Limits how long a motor block waits before giving up if movement is blocked.

• Getters

  • is_done – Returns a Boolean indicating whether the motor is no longer spinning.

  • is_spinning – Returns a Boolean indicating whether the motor is currently spinning.

  • position – Returns the motor’s current rotational position in degrees or turns.

  • velocity – Returns the motor’s current velocity in % or rpm.

Sensing - Utilize the robot’s various sensors.

• Optical

  • is_near_object – Returns whether a detected object is near the Optical Sensor.

  • color – Returns the color detected from the Optical Sensor.

  • brightness – Returns the brightness percentage detected by the sensor.

  • hue – Returns the hue value of the detected color.

  • object_detected – Registers a callback function for when the Optical Sensor detects an object.

  • object_lost – Registers a callback function for when the Optical Sensor loses an object.

The examples on this page use the default Playground start position.

Motion

Actions

spin

spin spins a motor or motor group in the specified direction indefinitely.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.spin(direction) — Intake Motors
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.spin(direction) — Conveyor Motors

Parameters	Description
direction	The direction for the motor to spin: FORWARD — Spins the Conveyor up or the Intake in the intake direction. REVERSE — Spins the Conveyor down or the Intake in the outtake direction.

def main():
    # Spin the intake motor forward then stop
    intake_motor_group.spin(FORWARD)
    wait(0.5, SECONDS)
    intake_motor_group.stop()

# VR threads — Do not delete
vr_thread(main)

spin_for

spin_for spins a motor or motor group for a given amount of degrees or turns.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.spin_for(direction, distance, units, wait) — Intake Motors
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.spin_for(direction, distance, units, wait) — Conveyor Motors

Parameters	Description
direction	The direction for the motor to spin: FORWARD – Spins the Conveyor up or the Intake in the intake direction. REVERSE – Spins the Conveyor down or the Intake in the outtake direction.
distance	The distance for the motor to spin as an integer.
units	The unit that represents the distance to rotate: DEGREES TURNS
wait	Optional. wait=True (default) — The robot waits until spin_for is complete before executing the next line of code. wait=False — The robot starts the action and moves on to the next line of code right away, without waiting for spin_for to finish.

def main():
    # Spin the intake motor forward then stop
    intake_motor_group.spin_for(FORWARD, 1, TURNS)

# VR threads — Do not delete
vr_thread(main)

spin_to_position

spin_to spins a motor or motor group to a given position.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.spin_to_position(angle, units, wait=True) — Intake Motors
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.spin_to_position(angle, units, wait=True) — Conveyor Motors

Parameters	Description
angle	The specific angle or number of turns that the motor will spin to.
units	The unit that represents the angle to rotate to: DEGREES TURNS
wait	Optional. wait=True (default) — The robot waits until spin_to_position is complete before executing the next line of code. wait=False — The robot starts the action and moves on to the next line of code right away, without waiting for spin_to_position to finish.

def main():
    # Spin the intake motor forward then stop
    intake_motor_group.spin_to_position(55, DEGREES)

# VR threads — Do not delete
vr_thread(main)

stop

stop stops a motor or motor group from spinning.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.stop() — Intake Motors
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.stop() — Conveyor Motors

Parameters	Description
	This method has no parameters.

def main():
    # Spin the intake motor forward then stop
    intake_motor_group.spin(FORWARD)
    wait(0.5, SECONDS)
    intake_motor_group.stop()

# VR threads — Do not delete
vr_thread(main)

Mutators

set_position

set_position sets a motor’s or motor group’s encoder position to the given position value.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.set_position(position, units) — Intake Motors
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.set_position(position, units) — Conveyor Motors

Parameters	Description
position	The specific integer for the motor’s encoder to be set to.
units	The unit that represents the angle to rotate to: DEGREES TURNS

def main():
    # Set the current motor position to 90 degrees
    intake_motor_group.set_position(90, DEGREES)
    # Spin the intake motor back to 0 degrees
    intake_motor_group.spin_to_position(0, DEGREES)

# VR threads — Do not delete
vr_thread(main)

set_velocity

set_velocity sets the speed of a motor or motor group.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.set_velocity(velocity, units) — Intake Motors
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.set_velocity(velocity, units) — Conveyor Motors

Parameters	Description
velocity	The speed that the motor group will spin at, ranging from 0 to 100.
units	The unit that represents the new velocity: PERCENT

def main():
    # Spin the intake motor forward then stop
    intake_motor_group.set_velocity(75, PERCENT)
    intake_motor_group.spin_to_position(180, DEGREES)

# VR threads — Do not delete
vr_thread(main)

set_timeout

set_timeout sets a time limit for a motor’s or motor group’s movement commands. This prevents Motion commands that do not reach their intended position from preventing subsequent commands from running.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.set_timeout(value, units) — Intake Motors
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.set_timeout(value, units) — Conveyor Motors

Parameters	Description
value	The amount of time the motor will wait before stopping.
units	The unit to represent the timeout: SECONDS MSEC — milliseconds

def main():
    # Spin the intake motor forward then stop
    intake_motor_group.set_timeout(2, SECONDS)
    intake_motor_group.spin_to_position(270, DEGREES)

# VR threads — Do not delete
vr_thread(main)

Getters

is_done

is_done returns a Boolean indicating whether the specified motor or motor group is not spinning.

• True – The specified motor is not spinning.

• False – The specified motor is spinning.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.is_done() — Intake Motors
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.is_done() — Conveyor Motors

Parameters	Description
	This method has no parameters.

is_spinning

is_spinning returns a Boolean indicating whether the specified motor or motor group is spinning.

• True – The specified motor is spinning.

• False – The specified motor is not spinning.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.is_spinning() — Arm Motor Group
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.is_spinning() — Intake Motor Group

Parameters	Description
	This method has no parameters.

position

position returns the total distance the specified motor or motor group has rotated.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.position(units) — Intake Motors
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.position(units) — Conveyor Motors

Parameters	Description
units	The units that represent the motor’s position: DEGREES TURNS

velocity

velocity returns the current rotational speed of the motor or motor group.

Usage:
One of two available motor objects can be used with this method, as shown below:

motor	Command
arm_motor_group	arm_motor_group.velocity(units) — Intake Motors
intake_motor_group	intake_motor_group.velocity(units) — Conveyor Motors

Parameters	Description
units	The unit that represent the motor’s position: PERCENT

Sensing

Optical

is_near_object

is_near_object returns a Boolean indicating whether or not the Optical Sensor detects an object close to the sensor.

• True – The object is close to the Optical Sensor.

• False – The object is not close to the Optical Sensor.

Usage:
optical.is_near_object()

Parameters	Description
	This method has no parameters.

color

color returns the color detected by the Optical Sensor:

Color Returned:
NONE – No color detected. RED GREEN BLUE YELLOW ORANGE PURPLE CYAN

Usage:
optical.color()

Parameters	Description
	This method has no parameters.

brightness

brightness returns the brightness value detected by the Optical Sensor as a percent from 0% to 100%.

Usage:
optical.brightness()

Parameters	Description
	This method has no parameters.

hue

hue returns the hue detected by the Optical Sensor.

Hue values range from 0 to 359 degrees, corresponding to positions on the color wheel shown below.

Usage:
optical.hue()

Parameters	Description
	This method has no parameters.

object_detected

object_detected registers a callback function for when the Optical Sensor detects an object.

Usage:
optical.object_detected(callback, arg)

Parameters	Description
callback	A function that will be called when an object is detected.
arg	Optional. A tuple that is used to pass arguments to the callback function.

object_lost

object_lost registers a callback function for when the Optical Sensor loses a previously detected object.

Usage:
optical.object_lost(callback, arg)

Parameters	Description
callback	A function that will be called when a detected object is lost.
arg	Optional. A tuple that is used to pass arguments to the callback function.