[bcampbell]

On our team we just teach the students to use their mouse for CAD. When you are working on a robot which has relatively small parts and the top assembly is contained within a couple feet I think it is no big deal to use a mouse.

At work a 3D space ball is a must. When you are working on planes or spacecraft that are massive models it is easier to manipulate with a 3D mouse. System performance also becomes a factor as some models at work of a whole airplane or satellite really bog down your machine. A mouse can be "too" reactive if you are trying to change your view by only a little bit... At work I use the spacemouse pro and most people on the program will not work without one. It also allows use to make adjustments in multiple axes at once.

However, when I am working on the robot I dont feel like it is necessary since the parts are pretty small and performance is super fast.