Drive to Point (x, y) on the Grid
In this lesson, you will learn how to find points on a coordinate plane using ordered pairs like (x, y). This video shows how to use the drivexyTo block to move a robot to a specific point on the grid and how to use the drivexy block to move from the robot’s current location. You will also learn that positive numbers move the robot right or up, and negative numbers move it left or down.  

 

 

1. Points in the Coordinate Plane

A coordinate plane is a grid made of horizontal and vertical lines. The horizontal line is called the x-axis, and the vertical line is called the y-axis. These two lines cross each other at the center point called the origin, which is (0, 0). The grid is divided into four sections, called quadrants.

 

Each point on the grid is written as a pair of numbers called an ordered pair. The first number in the pair is the x-coordinate, which tells how far to go across the x-axis (side to side). The second number is the y-coordinate, which tells how far to go up or down the y-axis. For example, the point (4, 2) means the x-coordinate is 4 and the y-coordinate is 2, so the point is 4 over and 2 up.

2. Drive to an (x,y) Location

You can use the drivexyTo block to move the robot to a specific point on the grid. The two input values in the blue number blocks are the x-coordinate and the y-coordinate. These values can be any real numbers. 

The robot will turn and drive straight to that point. Examples 1 and 2 show how this block works.

 

3. Drive to a Point Located (x, y) from Robot's Current Location

You can also move the robot using the drivexy block. This block moves the robot based on where it currently is. It does not go to a fixed point on the grid. Instead, it moves a certain amount from the robot’s current spot. 

In Example 3, the robot starts by driving forward 4 inches, then turns left 90 degrees and drives another 4 inches. This puts the robot at the point (4, 4). Next, a drivexy block is used to move the robot 2 inches along the x-axis and 0 inches along the y-axis. This moves the robot to the point (6, 4). Then, another drivexy block moves the robot 2 more inches along the x-axis and 4 inches along the y-axis. Now the robot is at the point (8, 8). Each drivexy block moves the robot based on its current location.

Positive numbers move the robot right or up. Negative numbers move the robot left or down. This kind of movement is called relative movement because the robot moves based on where it is starting from.