[wireties]

Organization, money/sponsors, mentors/teachers, and disciplined processes are all necessary to reach a high level. CAD, used productively, can move the process part of the equation to another level. CAD allows one to express ideas accurately, to see if the ideas fit into the whole and to communicate the design to helpful sheet metal and machine shop sponsors. And CAD is THE way it is done in the professional arena.

Even 2D CAD is helpful but being able to animate 3D CAD is the holy grail. Accurate animation lets you try out the geometry of basic designs w/o wasting time building them. Nothing is more demoralizing than building a elegant piece of the robot only to find out it does not fit, is too heavy, the ball does not fit etc.