Programming VEX Controller

[HRobotics]

Hi;

We're having a few problems programming our controller with the VEX easyC (we realise that the VEX season is over, but we're still working on it, so we're still having issues). (We've searched this issue quite a number of times... couldn't find anything... if there are any other threads that deal with this, we'd be grateful for a link.)

So the scenario is: We would like to use 5 motors in our robot. 2 motors will be controlled by 1 joystick that makes it go up-down-left-right (to control the robot). The other 3 will be for the arm.

So the problem is: We want to use 2 motors to move the arm forwards and backwards ; the other, to move the scoop up and down. If we use the arcade (-2 motor) for the arm, we wanted to make the arm go back and forward with the *up arrow* and *down arrow* of the joystick. We wanted to use *right arrow* and *left arrow* for the claw, but when one turns, the joystick goes to the left or right, and that causes both motors to go in reverse. This will cause problems. (I really hope that made sense...)

We'd also like to know if there is a way to program the controller without using the preset functions like arcade or tank. If there isn't, is there an alternate way to address this problem?

Thanks,
HC Robotics (Katherine + Hilary).