The Start block marks the beginning of a programming block sequence in your program. Your program can have more than one sequence. All sequences with a Start block will start automatically when a program is run, and the sequences will run at the same time.

Tips and Tricks

If a sequence of programming blocks does not start with a Start block, the blocks will not run.

If your robot is turned on and connected to your computer (by USB, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi), you can also click on the green arrow on the Start block to immediately run that single sequence in your program.

Tips and Tricks

Clicking on the green arrow on the Start block will compile and download the entire program to your EV3, but only the selected sequence will run.

Example 1: Starting a Single Sequence

This program has a single block sequence starting with a Start block.

There are three different ways to run this program on your EV3 Brick:

1. Click the “Download” button in the software, then select and run the program on the EV3 Brick.

2. Click the “Download/Run” button in the software. The program will download and then run immediately.

3. Click the green arrow on the Start block. The program will download, and the sequence will run immediately.

Example 2: Two Block Sequences

This program uses two different block sequences to make two different kinds of actions happen at the same time. In the first sequence, a Loop makes the EV3 alternate between two sounds and two images. In the second sequence, a Medium Motor alternates between running for ¼ second and stopping for ¼ second.

If you click the green button on either Start block in the program above, you can see what that sequence in the program does. When you run the whole program from the EV3 Brick, you can see the two sequences happening at the same time.

Tips and Tricks

The Wait block in the second sequence of Example 2 will cause only the second sequence to wait for the time to pass. The first sequence is not affected and keeps running.

Start Block