One of Vex IQ's many advantages is that the brain actually comes preloaded with code.

While the code on the brain is not necessarily competition-ready, it allows you to save hours in the classroom by using prewritten commands rather than writing your own.

The prewritten code on the brain is not especially sophisticated. It simply allows you to control up to eight motors using joysticks and buttons on the controller. This is especially helpful for testing a drivetrain, an arm, a claw, or anything else.

When I am building a new robot I will always use the default code on the brain before writing my own. This allows me to test my systems using motors before committing time to programming.

Additionally if things change, it allows me to change things much more quickly.

Running this code is quite simple. From the home screen simply select Drive > Run by pressing check twice.

Once the code is running you will see a timer on the top of the screen and details on each of the devices plugged into the brain in the center.

This is where most teams mess up. The most common reason that teams struggle to use the prewritten code is because they plug the devices into the wrong ports.

Here are the ports that you are allowed to plug things into using the pre-written "drive" code:
​
​> 1, 7: left drive motor*
​> 6, 12: right drive motor*
​> 4: non-drive motor.  Controlled on R up/dn buttons
​> 5: non-drive motor. Controlled on F up/dn buttons
​> 10: non-drive motor. Controlled on L up/dn buttons
​> 11: non-drive motor. Controlled on E up/dn buttons
> 2: Touch LED (not advised, this can disable the entire robot if red)
> 3, 8, 9: Bumper sensors used as limit switches (not advised, can disable random motors)

* If you plug in the left and right drive motors to opposite ports (i.e. right drive in 1 or 7, left drive in 6 or 12), you can switch them in software.

Once you finish plugging your motors into the correct ports, it's time to move on to configuration.

When I first started teaching I remember one of my students was driving his robot with the controller upside down.

I asked him why he was holding it upside down and he explained it was because it was the only way he could control the robot. If he held it right side up, all of the robot motions reversed.

Being a kid he had very cleverly figured out that if he held the controller upside down, suddenly all of the controls would do what they were supposed to.

While this is one way to fix the issue, the correct way is actually to just adjust the settings in the menu.

From the home menu simply select Drive and then use the right arrow to select "Controls" and press Check.

From this menu you'll be able to adjust all of the controls.

Simply select one of the options and press Check to reverse it. At the bottom of the screen it will indicate whether each motor is reversed or normal.

You will also notice that you can select how the joysticks control the drivetrain. You can have all the controls on the left stick, all the controls on the right stick, or them split between the two sticks in various configurations.

I suggest you try them and select the one that works best with your students.

Finally if your drivetrain is reversed (like the upset on the controller student), you will find the options to fix that at the far right of the controls menu (use the arrow key to scroll).

Once your robot is mostly complete it will be time to move on to your own code. This means it will be time to stop using Drive and instead you have to manually code your robot on the computer.

While this coding course is slightly outdated, this is a complete coding course that will teach you everything you need to know to code your own robots (totally free)