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Hello, and welcome to the VEX Classroom. My name is Lauren Harter, and I'm going to show you how to get started with VEX V5. So what exactly are we gonna cover in this video? I want to cover everything that you need to get started, whether you've just unboxed your kit and you have all of your devices out and you are getting ready to go. I want to make sure that you have all the steps that you need to be successful.

So here's what we're gonna cover. First thing is the battery. How do I charge the battery for the brain and also how do I attach it and remove it from the brain as well? The second thing is the controller. How do I charge the controller? Number three, VEX V5. So VEXcode V5 is not only the software that we use to actually program our hardware, but it also leads into how we can update our firmware. So I'm also gonna get into doing that as well to make sure that we have everything that we need to be successful.

All right, so let's get started. Let's take a look at everything we have on the table here. All right, so here's everything that we have. I have a brain. I have a controller. I have a cable to connect our battery to the brain. I have the battery itself. I have a USB cable. And then I also have a V5 battery charger that is plugged into an outlet.

So let's talk about the battery first. So here we have our battery. A couple of things. Number one, how do we actually charge the battery? So you can see that I have the other end of our V5 battery charger. Now, that can connect to any outlets. And at the bottom here, if you can see, there's a little hole we're actually gonna plug that into. So once I plug that in, you can see that there is a couple of different lights here on the top. So this is blinking green, which means that it is actively charging, which is great. There are four different light indicators there. So two blinking green, three, and then four. Once I get all the way up, I'm fully charged.

There is also a button right here. So that's where I actually turn the battery on and off. So you can see there if I press that on and off, that would actually be where I turn the battery on and off. Now, what's really, really nice about the V5 battery is that let's say, for example, I'm running a lot of projects throughout the day, things of that nature, you can actually use the battery while it is being actively charged. So if I'm in a classroom or if I'm in a competition setting and I'm testing certain things that it's okay that I'm connected, I can actually leave this charged and plugged in when I'm actively using it.

So again, in a competition setting, if I'm just getting started or using it in a classroom setting, if I want to have multiple batteries plugged in, I can take this one off, plug another one in, or if I want to leave it plugged in and use it while it's actually charging, that is completely fine.

All right, so to unplug this, I'm basically just gonna pull that out, you can see the battery is now turned off, there's no lights. Now, if I press the button there, you can see that the light is now on, so I've turned the battery on. Now, how do I connect the battery to the brain while I have this cable here? And you can see that the sides are flipped. So I have a little indentation there on this side. If you can see it, it's almost keyed. And on the other side, it's just reversed. Now, the reason for that is because we have two of those keyed sides, if you will, both on the battery and also on the brain. So you can see the little indentation there is at the top, and it's at the bottom of the battery here. So basically just want to line that up with the cable. So I'm gonna connect it to my battery first. I can see the little indentation is towards the bottom here. So I'm gonna make sure on my cable, the indentation is towards the bottom. And then when I snap those into place there, you'll see that they actually interlock.

Thank you for joining me in this tutorial. I hope you found it helpful and are now ready to get started with your VEX V5 kit. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Happy building and programming!

And you can hear it. If you pull a little bit, don't pull too hard that you damage anything, but you can see that it's locked into place there. So basically, you just want to do that to the other side with my brain, lock those two pieces in. And you can see again, if I pull a little bit, it's not gonna come out.

The brain did turn on because I connected the battery. So if I do want to turn my brain on and off, I can hold the power button in to power the brain off, or I can also press it again to turn it on. Now, that's how I connect the brain battery. Again, if I press this button, it's gonna turn on. You can see the light is on for the battery as well.

But what if I need to swap my battery out, or this one no longer has a charge and I need to connect another one? Again, you see if I pull it, it's not gonna immediately come out. So there is that little key part at the bottom that I mentioned before. You are going to want to push that tab towards the bottom or push that tab in and then pull out. So that's how it's going to release both sides, both the battery side and the brain side.

If you want to remove the cable or pull the cable out of where it's connected, you do have to push that little key part in in order to remove it. So that is how we not only charge the battery, but also connect it to the brain. Now again, if I wanted to keep that plugged in while I'm actively using it, I can absolutely do that as well. So I'm gonna leave that plugged in. And we are good to go.

One other thing that's really nice is that in the top right corner of the brain there, I know it's a little hard to see me, get a little bit closer there. Top right corner of the brain, you can actually see the battery status. So you can kinda see if I'm close to the bottom there or if it's fully charged all the way green. So it gives me a little as well as to how charged the battery level is.

All right, now let's move on to the controller. So how do I charge the controller? There are two ways to charge the controller. The first way is I need my USB cable for both ways. So I can either connect the controller to an outlet. So I'm gonna plug this into an outlet over here. And then I can charge it. There is a little connector towards the bottom there. You can see that's where the USB connection is going to be.

Now these, on the other side, these two ports here are to connect using a smart cable to the brain. That's in order for me to pair it and things of that nature. But to just charge the controller, I want to connect that there. And you can see the charging icon comes on. Now, when the controller is powered off and it's actively charging, you'll see this charging icon. If I turn the controller on, at the top there, there is a little charging indicator and it is continuously flashing and going up, that means that it's actively charging. So that's one way that I can charge the controller.

The other way is I can connect it. I'm gonna remove this from the outlet there, and I'm gonna connect it to my computer. So I don't necessarily have to connect it to an outlet, I can also connect it to my computer. So you can see there, it turned on, and you can see that it also is actively charging. So those are the two ways that I can charge the controller there. So I'm gonna unplug this and I'm gonna power this down.

All right, so that's how I charge my brain battery connector and also charge my controller. Now, the next thing that we need to get started is we need VEXcode V5. So what's really nice is that we have a knowledge base article called Getting Started with VEX V5 that actually walks us through everything that I've been discussing so far. So you can see up here, battery charging and connecting, charging the controller, VEXcode V5, and then the firmware. So we've done all this already, charged, the battery is connected, things of that nature. Next is to download VEXcode V5.

Now, we need VEXcode V5 not only because this is going to be the application that we're gonna use to code our hardware, but it also is the application that we're gonna use to update our firmware. So we need to download VEXcode V5 if you do not already have it downloaded. You can select this link right here to code.vex.com. It will open for you. At the top right, you can see Download. Then, scroll down to VEXcode V5 and download it for your appropriate device.

One thing to note when you are going to download this is that you can download multiple versions depending on the devices you're using. If you need to download it for Mac, Windows, Chromebook, or even from the app store for a tablet, you can absolutely do that. However, when we update our firmware for the first time, we need to have a wired connection. Just something to keep in mind when you are downloading this for the first time, since you will need to update your firmware, especially if you've just unboxed it and are opening your kit for the first time. So just keep that in mind, you probably will need a wired connection. A computer is needed to update the firmware for the first time, but you can still use tablets to code. Just something to keep in mind there.

All right, so now that you have VEXcode V5 downloaded, and I'm gonna assume that it's downloaded here, I'm gonna launch that. I have VEXcode V5 now open. What I'm gonna do now is move the controller out of the way a little bit, and I'm gonna turn on the brain. I am going to plug in the USB cable so that I have the brain connected to my device. In the top right-hand corner, you can see that the brain icon is green. That means that my firmware is up to date, which is fantastic. If it was orange, that means that my firmware is not up to date and that I do need to update that firmware. If that is the case, there will be a little update button right there, and you can update your firmware that way.

For more information on updating your firmware, let me go back to the article here. We do have this article for updating your firmware. We also have another video where I actually walk you through updating all of that firmware and explaining what firmware is and why that's important because every single one of our devices here, our V5 devices, are smart to run their own special software. We need to ensure that all of that is up to date so that these devices not only work with each other but can also be programmed by VEXcode V5. So again, if you need a little more assistance on updating your firmware, or if your firmware is out of date, please watch the updating your VEX V5 firmware video to ensure that you have everything that you need to get started.

All right, so going back here. Now that everything is green, we're good to go. I'm actually all set to start coding. My batteries are actively charging or they're charged. Brain firmware is up to date, everything is good to go. So I am actually all set.

Once again, let's just wrap up everything that you need to get started with VEX V5. Number one, the battery. Once again, how do I charge the battery, how do I connect the battery, and also disconnect the battery from the brain? Secondly, the controller, how do I charge the controller? Thirdly, VEXcode V5, where do I actually download that? And why do I need it? Number one, it's gonna be the language that we're gonna use to code all of our hardware. Secondly, it's also where we're gonna be able to update our firmware. So that's it, that's everything that we need to get started.

I hope that you found this helpful, and I will see you in another video.

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