Turning the Drivetrain Using RUN_TO_POSITION

In the Programming Drivetrain Motors - Blocks section, the mechanism of was discussed. dictates what direction and speed a motor moves in. On a drivetrain the combined direction and speed of the motors dictates whether the robot moves in forward, backwards, or turns.

In RUN_TO_POSITIONmode the encoder counts are used instead of to dictate directionality of the motor. If a target position value is greater than the current position of the encoder, the motor moves forward. If the target position value is less than the current position of the encoder, the motor moves backwards

Since speed an directionality impacts how a robot turns, target position and velocity need to be edited to get the robot to turn. Consider the following code:

The rightTarget has been changed to be a negative target position. Assuming that the encoder starts at zero due to STOP_AND_RESET_ENCODER this causes the robot to turn to the right. Velocity is the same for both motors. If you try running this code, you may notice that the robot pivots along its center of rotation. To get a wider turn changing the velocity so that the right motor is running at a lower velocity than the left motor. Adjust the velocity and target position as needed to get the turn you need.

For more information on how direction and speed impact the movement of a robot please refer to the explanation of in the Programming Drivetrain Motors section.