Robot-Specific Blocks#

Introduction #

The GO Competition - Mars Math Expedition Playground features blocks exclusive to the virtual GO Hero Robot, including Arm Motor controls and robot-specific sensing blocks.

All standard VEXcode VR Blocks are available for use in the GO Competition - Mars Math Expedition Playground.

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

Motion - Move and track the robot’s Arm Motor.

Actions
- spin motor - Spins the Arm Motor indefinitely.
- spin motor for - Spins the Arm Motor for a specific distance in degrees or turns.
- spin motor to position - Spins the Arm Motor to a set position.
- stop motor - Stops the Arm Motor.
Settings
- set motor velocity - Sets the speed of the Arm Motor as a percentage.
- set motor timeout - Limits how long a motor block waits before giving up if movement is blocked.
Position
- motor position - Returns the Arm Motor’s current rotational position in degrees or turns.
- set motor position - Sets the encoder value of the Arm Motor.
Values
- motor is done? - Returns whether the Arm Motor is no longer spinning.
- motor is spinning? - Returns whether the Arm Motor is currently spinning.
- motor velocity - Returns the Arm Motor’s current velocity in %.

Sensing - Utilize the robot’s sensors.

Eye Sensor
- Eye found an object? - Returns whether the Front Eye Sensor detects an object.
- Eye detects color? - Returns whether the Front Eye Sensor detects a selected color.
- Eye brightness - Returns the brightness detected by the Front Eye Sensor.
- Eye hue - Returns the hue detected by the Front Eye Sensor.
Gyro Sensing
- detected crash? - Returns whether the robot has crashed into a wall or object.

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

Motion #

Actions #

spin motor #

The spin motor block spins the Arm Motor in a specified direction using the current motor velocity.

  spin [ArmMotor v] [up v]

Parameters

Description

direction

The direction to spin the motor:

up
down

Example

  when started
  [Raise the Arm Motor, then stop.]
  spin [ArmMotor v] [up v]
  wait (1) seconds
  stop [ArmMotor v]

spin motor for #

The spin motor for block spins the Arm Motor for a specific amount of rotation using the current motor velocity.

  spin [ArmMotor v] [up v] for [90] [degrees v] ▶

Parameters	Description
direction	The direction to spin the motor: up down
distance	The rotation amount, as an integer or decimal.
unit	The unit of measurement representing the distance: degrees turns
expanding arrow	By default, this is a waiting block, so the motor will finish moving before running the next block. Expand the block to say and don’t wait to make it non-waiting.

Example

  when started
  [Raise the Arm Motor by 200 degrees.]
  spin [ArmMotor v] [up v] for [200] [degrees v] ▶

spin motor to position #

The spin motor to position block spins the Arm Motor to a specific absolute position using the current motor velocity and motor position.

  spin [ArmMotor v] to position [90] [degrees v] ▶

Parameters	Description
position	The target position to spin the motor to.
unit	The unit of measurement: degrees turns
expanding arrow	By default, this is a waiting block, so the motor will finish moving before running the next block. Expand the block to say and don’t wait to make it non-waiting.

Parameters

Description

position

The target position to spin the motor to.

unit

The unit of measurement:

degrees
turns

expanding arrow

By default, this is a waiting block, so the motor will finish moving before running the next block. Expand the block to say and don’t wait to make it non-waiting.

Example

  when started
  [Move the Arm Motor to 180 degrees.]
  spin [ArmMotor v] to position [180] [degrees v] ▶

stop motor #

The stop motor block immediately stops the Arm Motor.

  stop [ArmMotor v]

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Raise the Arm Motor, then stop.]
  spin [ArmMotor v] [up v]
  wait (1) seconds
  stop [ArmMotor v]

Settings #

set motor velocity #

The set motor velocity block sets the default spinning speed of the Arm Motor as a percentage for all subsequent Motion blocks in the project.

  set [ArmMotor v] velocity to [50] %

Parameters	Description
velocity	Sets the default movement velocity from 0% to 100%.

Example

  when started
  [Set the Arm Motor velocity to 100%.]
  set [ArmMotor v] velocity to [100] %
  spin [ArmMotor v] [up v] for [1] [turns v] ▶

The set motor timeout block sets a time limit for how long a Motor block will wait to reach its target. If the robot cannot complete the movement within the set time, it will stop automatically and continue with the next block.

Note: The motor’s time limit is used to prevent Motor blocks that do not reach their target position from stopping the execution of other blocks in the stack.

  set [ArmMotor v] timeout to [1] seconds

Parameters	Description
time	The maximum number of seconds a Motor block will run before stopping and moving to the next block.

Example

  when started
  [Limit Arm Motor movement to 1 second.]
  set [ArmMotor v] timeout to [1] seconds
  spin [ArmMotor v] [up v] for [3] [turns v] ▶

Position #

motor position #

The motor position block returns the total distance the Arm Motor has rotated.

  ([ArmMotor v] position in [degrees v] :: custom-motion)

Parameters	Description
unit	The unit of measurement: degrees turns

Example

  when started
  [Print the Arm Motor position.]
  print ([ArmMotor v] position in [degrees v] :: custom-motion) ▶

set motor position #

The set motor position block sets a specific position value to the Arm Motor, which updates the encoder reading.

  set [ArmMotor v] position to [0] [degrees v]

Parameters	Description
position	The encoder position value to set.
unit	The unit of measurement: degrees turns

Parameters

Description

position

The encoder position value to set.

unit

The unit of measurement:

degrees
turns

Example

  when started
  [Set the Arm Motor to 90 degrees, then return to 0 degrees.]
  set [ArmMotor v] position to [90] [degrees v]
  spin [ArmMotor v] to position [0] [degrees v] ▶

Values #

motor is done?#

The motor is done? block returns a Boolean indicating whether the Arm Motor is not spinning.

True - The motor is not spinning.
False - The motor is spinning.

Note: This block only detects movement from blocks that can expand to show the and don’t wait option.

  <[ArmMotor v] is done?>

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Check when the Arm Motor has finished moving.]
  spin [ArmMotor v] [up v] for [180] [degrees v] ◀ and don't wait
  wait (0.1) seconds
  if <[ArmMotor v] is done?> then
  print [Arm Motor is done.] ▶
  end

motor is spinning?#

The motor is spinning? block returns a Boolean indicating whether the Arm Motor is spinning.

True - The motor is spinning.
False - The motor is not spinning.

Note: This block only detects movement from blocks that can expand to show the and don’t wait option.

  <[ArmMotor v] is spinning?>

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Check whether the Arm Motor is moving.]
  spin [ArmMotor v] [up v] for [180] [degrees v] ◀ and don't wait
  wait (0.1) seconds
  if <[ArmMotor v] is spinning?> then
  print [Arm Motor is spinning.] ▶
  end

motor velocity #

The motor velocity block returns the current rotational speed of the Arm Motor in a range from -100% to 100%.

  ([ArmMotor v] velocity in [% v] :: custom-motion)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Print the Arm Motor velocity.]
  print ([ArmMotor v] velocity in [% v] :: custom-motion) ▶

Sensing #

The virtual Hero Robot also has access to the standard Brain and Drivetrain Sensing Blocks.

Eye #

Eye found an object?#

The Eye found an object? block returns a Boolean indicating whether the Front Eye Sensor detects an object within range.

True - The sensor has detected an object.
False - The sensor has not detected an object.

  <[FrontEye v] found an object?>

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Check whether the Front Eye Sensor detects an object.]
  if <[FrontEye v] found an object?> then
  print [Object detected!] ▶
  else
  print [No object detected.] ▶
  end

Eye detects color?#

The Eye detects color? block returns a Boolean indicating whether the Front Eye Sensor detects a specified color.

True - The sensor detects the specified color.
False - The sensor does not detect the specified color.

  <[FrontEye v] detects [red v]?>

Parameters	Description
color	The color to detect: red green blue

Parameters

Description

color

The color to detect:

red
green
blue

Example

  when started
  [Check whether the Front Eye Sensor detects blue.]
  if <[FrontEye v] detects [blue v]?> then
  print [Blue object detected.] ▶
  end

Eye brightness #

The Eye brightness block returns the brightness detected by the Front Eye Sensor from 0% to 100%.

  ([FrontEye v] brightness in %)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Print the brightness detected by the Front Eye Sensor.]
  print ([FrontEye v] brightness in %) ▶

Eye hue #

The Eye hue block returns the hue detected by the Front Eye Sensor in degrees from 0 to 359.

  ([FrontEye v] hue in degrees)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Print the hue detected by the Front Eye Sensor.]
  print ([FrontEye v] hue in degrees) ▶

Gyro #

detected crash?#

The detected crash? block returns a Boolean indicating whether or not the robot crashed.

True - A crash was detected.
False - A crash was not detected.

  <detected crash?>

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Drive until the robot crashes, then stop.]
  drive [forward v]
  wait until <detected crash?>
  stop driving