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The Joys of Mech Desk
Posted by Kevin Sevcik of team #57, Tigers, from BT Washington and the High School for Engineering Professions sponsored by Exxon, Kellog Brown & Root, Powell Electrical.
Posted on 4/19/99 4:33 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Solids and parametrics are the key features posted by Brandon Martus on 4/16/99 11:28 PM MST:
I don't know where you guys have been, but FIRST provides a 3D modelling/drafting solution that's well nigh perfect for most people. I should know, I use it. Unfortunately, my team doesn't.. but that's another story.
FIRST provides every team with the latest copy of Mechanical Desktop. This is an add on for AutoCAD R14, so all you AutoDesk junkies won't lose your current knowledge. Mechanical Desktop is the single most useful drafting software that I know of. I picked it up last year starting with some basic knowledge of AutoCAD R10. (Don't ask)
If you get the tutorial manuel and just start working through it, it only takes a week or two to learn everything. Mech Desk basically allows you to go from 2D orthographic views to a 3D part. And it's parametric, so you can change stuff later. And it lets you assemble parts into sub-assemblies, and sub-assemblies into assemblies. So you can virtually build your robot on a really powerful computer. (Pun intended) And it's parametric, so you can change stuff that doesn't fit. It does solid modelling, so you can calculate centers of gravity and such if you know part densities. Then, you can take the 3D parts, and quickly make 2D drawing from them to produce the parts from, if you don't have spiffy CNC mills....
The best and newest feature is DesignSpace. It's a totally seperate program that can work with Mech Desk. You take a Mech Desk part and tell DesignSpace what it's made of and where loads are acting on it. Then DesignSpace can calculate where you don't need material on the part. Automatic lightening holes from the comfort of your computer room.
Needless to say, I'm a strong advocate of CADing a robot before it's built. Or even after. But I'm the only draftsman on my team, and no one believes me when I tell them how useful all this stuff is. Then they wonder why the 2nd robot never works quite right. Go figure. But if you're into drafting a robot and you know AutoCAD already, I suggest hunting down your team's copy of Mech Desk, and taking some time to learn it. It's well worth it.
Kevin Sevcik
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