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Getting Started — VEX V5

Welcome to the VEX V5 Foundations program! This page is your reading roadmap. Work through these articles in order — each one builds on what came before. By the end, you will have the background knowledge to build, wire, program, and compete with a VEX V5 robot.

You do not need to read everything before your first session. Aim to finish each section’s articles before or during the matching session block.

Phase 1 — Before You Touch the Hardware

Read these first. They cover safety, the equipment you will use, and the lab rules.

  1. Resources: Safety Rules — Lab safety, emergency stop procedures, and the safety agreement you will sign on Day 1.
  2. Resources: Tool Usage — How to use hand tools safely and correctly.
  3. Hardware: The Brain — The VEX V5 Brain is the computer at the center of your robot. Learn what it does and how it connects to everything else.
  4. Hardware: Brain User Interface — How to use the Brain’s touchscreen to monitor sensors, check port connections, and run programs.
  5. Hardware: Battery Packs — Charging, caring for, and checking the battery that powers your robot.

Phase 2 — Building Your Drivetrain (Sessions 1–3)

These articles cover the mechanical and electrical foundations of your robot’s drivetrain.

  1. Fundamentals: Gear Ratios — How gears change speed and torque. You will calculate gear ratios before building your drivetrain.
  2. Drivebase: Drivetrains — The different types of drivetrain configurations and when to use each one.
  3. Drivebase: Wheels — Traction vs. omni wheels and how their placement on an 8-wheel chassis affects robot performance.
  4. Drivebase: Best Practices — Structural tips for building a drivetrain that holds together under competition stress.
  5. Fundamentals: Fasteners — Screws, lock nuts, and standoffs — the fasteners that hold your robot together.

Phase 3 — Programming Basics (Sessions 1–2)

Read these before or alongside Sessions 1 and 2.

  1. Software: C++ Basics for Robotics (find this in the Software section of the sidebar) — Variables, functions, loops, and conditionals in C++. Start here if you are new to C++ programming.
  2. Hardware: Motor Encoders — How the built-in encoders in VEX V5 motors measure distance and position. Essential for any autonomous motion.

Phase 4 — Autonomous Motion (Sessions 4–5)

These articles explain how to make your robot drive accurately without a driver.

  1. Navigation: Odometry — Using encoder counts to estimate how far the robot has traveled.
  2. Navigation: PID Controllers — The feedback algorithm that lets your robot drive to an exact distance or turn to an exact angle. This is one of the most important articles in the entire wiki — read it carefully.
  3. Hardware: IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units) — The inertial sensor that tells your robot which direction it is facing.

Phase 5 — Driver Control (Session 6)

  1. Hardware: VEX Controller — The handheld controller hardware — inputs, axes, buttons, and wireless connection.
  2. Software: Driver Control Programming — How to write a driver control loop, implement arcade drive, add deadband filtering, and tune joystick response curves.

Phase 6 — Competition Template (Session 7)

  1. Software: Competition Template — The three-phase structure (pre_auton, autonomous, usercontrol) that all VEX V5 competition programs must use. Includes a multi-routine autonomous selector.

Phase 7 — Sensors (Session 8)

  1. Hardware: Distance Sensors — How distance sensors work and how to use them to detect game objects and walls.
  2. Hardware: Optical Sensors — Color and proximity detection for identifying game objects.
  3. Hardware: Bumper Switches — Using limit switches to detect contact and trigger mechanism sequences.

Phase 8 — Mechanisms (Sessions 9–11)

  1. Fundamentals: Solid Mechanics — Forces, stress, and why bracing matters. Helps you understand why lifts fail and how to fix them.
  2. Mechanisms: Lifts — The different types of lift arms — 2-bar, 4-bar, cascade — and how to build, brace, and torque-calculate for them.
  3. Mechanisms: Intake — Roller intakes and how to tune compression, spacing, and motor stall detection.
  4. Software: State Machines — The design pattern for controlling lift positions and mechanism sequences with precise position control and button triggers.

Phase 9 — System Integration (Sessions 12–14)

  1. Fundamentals: Center of Gravity — Why weight distribution matters when you add a lift and intake to your chassis.
  2. Navigation: Autonomous Strategy — How to plan autonomous routes, calculate theoretical scores, and run repeatability tests.
  3. Resources: Troubleshooting Guide — The five-step debugging process for mechanical and software problems. Read before your first integration session.

Phase 10 — Advanced Autonomous (Sessions 15–17)

  1. Navigation: Localization — How robots track their position on the field using odometry and sensor fusion.
  2. Software: Path Planning & Motion Chaining — Motion chaining, curved path approximation, error recovery, and multi-routine selectors.

Phase 11 — Competition (Sessions 18–20)

  1. Resources: Competitions — How VEX V5 competitions work — match format, scoring, rankings, alliance selection, and what to expect on competition day.

Reference — Read Anytime

These articles are useful reference material. Read them when a topic comes up or when something breaks.

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