Team work

[pigpenguin]

Hey guys,
I was curious how you get multiple people working on the same project. Currently we simply use drop box, how ever this has gotten complicated and cluttered. Some models refuse to work after being uploaded to drop box for some reason and other small annoyances. So I was curious about how you guys handle multiple workers.
Thanks ahead of time,
Pigpenguin

[msimon785]

We went through three different file transfer systems last year. We started with dropbox, but that didn't really serve CAD purposes. It doesn't lend itself to iterative part design, and really wasn't working as we had hoped. We then transitioned to Vault, which was really awesome. Vault is definitely the way to go. Nonetheless, somehow our main .iam was corrupted under the vault system and we had to start from scratch. I don't think it was necessarily because of vault, but for some reason, we never went back. After that it was just good old flash drives.
This year, however, I intend to implement the newly introduced "Autodesk Cloud". I've been playing around with it, and it seems to serve the purposes, in a minimalist and functional manner.

[Jimmy Nichols]

We have a pizza server that we use as network storage. So All of our computer, CAD, Animation, Graphics, Controls all point to this server and store their files there. Nothing is stored locally.

[craigboez]

I'm also investigating ways we might be able CAD together during the build season. Being a non-programmer I have no background with Subversion or Github but these seem to be two possible solutions. They can connect to a server that hosts the files and syncs them to all the individual machines (I think), but the details aren't all that clear.

If somebody that does use a source control system for collaborating on Inventor or Solid Works could help us out by detailing their setup, I'd really appreciate it.

[craigboez]

Originally Posted by msimon785

We then transitioned to Vault, which was really awesome. Vault is definitely the way to go.

I agree with this. As a sidenote to my previous post, using Subversion or Git seems like a bit of a hack. Using the built in Vault client would be great.

I use Vault at work, but would have trouble using it to interact with the students. They couldn't access my company network, and I wouldn't be able to access a server located in the school. Are there any 3rd parties offering hosted Vault accounts? Anybody have experience setting up a Vault box that students and mentors can access from anywhere.

[pigpenguin]

Oh I forgot to say thank you. I had tried using vault before but it was a pain to set up. Cloud does everything I need to thanks for the advice

[inventor_phild]

All,

Great to see that some of you have already started to use the Autodesk Cloud. We are very intererested on how that works for you.

[Team 3705]

wish, my team would do cad designs

[pigpenguin]

If you have a computer and internet access you can Autodesk has been kind enough to release their software for free to first robotics team. If you find one or two kids who are interested in learning direct them HERE: to download their choice of cad software (personally i would suggest inventor) and then off season have them start cadding old robots of yours or other miscellaneous stuff. There are probably enough knowledgeable people here who would be willing to help if they become stumped.

[Nikki Haux]

Originally Posted by pigpenguin

There are probably enough knowledgeable people here who would be willing to help if they become stumped.

I would certainly hope so.

And to answer your question: I don't know what your team's situation is, but we work in our high school, so our administration gave us access to another drive on our servers. We save all of our files there.

Regardless of how you save them, though, you need to make sure that people aren't working on the same part or assembly. I know this seems like a dummy misttake, but you have no idea how often it happens on our team.

[Pun-isher]

We've relied mostly on Dropbox which has given us few errors, but I'll have to look into Autodesk Cloud, which may prove far easier...

[akoscielski3]

Originally Posted by Team 3705

wish, my team would do cad designs

Me and my dad were talking to a couple if your mentors at kick off. Is there anyone on your team that is willing to learn a CAD software? I know solidworks and am willing to teach someone over skype or google+. Always want to help out fellow Canadian teams

[feverittm]

Originally Posted by inventor_phild

All,

Great to see that some of you have already started to use the Autodesk Cloud. We are very intererested on how that works for you.

Phil,

Please correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the Autodesk Cloud server just another 'dropbox' type of server. Specifically it does not include any integration with the Autodesk tools (and especially Inventor).

Thanks

[Adam.garcia]

I will be willing to teach people how to use SolidWorks.

If anybody is interested, send me an email at adamgarcia1994@g.ucla.edu.