[artdutra04]

I only used Inventor in high school, but I started using SolidWorks last year during the build season. For a variety of reasons (ranging from personal preference to the modeling-to-CNC process being much smoother), I completely switched and now I used it full time for all my projects.

In addition, both of the teams I help mentor, 190 and 228, are SolidWorks teams, and both will have at least a majority of their robot fully designed and modeled before any parts are fabricated.

My experience with Pro/E is limited, but it's a personal goal of mine to become fully proficient in both Pro/E and SolidWorks, as both of these are much more widely used in industry than Inventor.

But really, it's whatever works for you.

Edit: As for the part models for SolidWorks, between 3dcontentcentral, McMaster, Bimba, AndyMark, and FIRST Cad Library, you can find nearly every component model for a FRC robot you can ever need.