Drawing Triangles
Teacher Toolbox
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Activity Outline
In the following activity, students will explore how to store (x, y, z) coordinates in a 2D List in order to draw two triangles using a dry-erase marker. Students will first locate the 10 coordinate points that the VEX V5 Workcell needs to move to in order to draw the two triangles.
Once the students have the 10 points, they will create a 2D List to store the coordinate points. Once the coordinate points are stored, the students will use variables and a repeat loop to move the arm mounted on the V5 Workcell from point to point in order to draw the two triangles.
| Quantity | Materials Needed |
|---|---|
| 1 |
VEX V5 Workcell |
| 1 | |
| 1 |
Engineering Notebook |
| 1 |
Device to run VEXcode V5 |
| 1 |
Micro-USB cable |
| 1 |
Dry-erase marker |
Teacher Tips
- Insert paper under the whiteboard for increased clarity if desired.
- Ensure the V5 Battery is charged before beginning.
- Ensure the V5 Brain is connected to a device before beginning.
- Point students to the VEX Robotics Knowledge Base if they have further questions about VEXcode V5 or the hardware.
- Ensure students have their mastering values readily available from Lab 1.
- Start the activity with the dry-erase marker not attached to the arm mounted on the V5 Workcell, as locations need to be recorded on the whiteboard in the Workcell first.
- Ensure the students change the [Set tool] block to ‘marker.’ If this is missed, the arm mounted on the V5 Workcell may not move as intended.
- A rubber band can be placed around the dry-erase marker on the arm mounted on the V5 Workcell to better hold it in place if it is not staying in position.
- At the end of the activity when the ‘Triangles’ project is tested, if the arm mounted on the V5 Workcell does not draw the triangles directly on the points indicated, make adjustments to the (x, y, z) values of the points as necessary.
In this section, you will explore how to store (x, y, z) coordinates in a 2D List. These coordinates will be used in order to draw two triangles on the whiteboard using a dry-erase marker. These points are also known as ‘waypoints.’
You will first locate the 10 coordinate points that the arm mounted on the VEX V5 Workcell needs to move to in order to draw the two triangles. Once you have the 10 points, you will create a 2D List to store the coordinate points.
Once the coordinate points are stored, you will use variables and a repeat loop to move the arm mounted on the V5 Workcell from point to point in order to draw the two triangles.
You will begin by creating the ‘Triangles’ project.