[DFTF] The Question of CAD

[AdamHeard]

If you use proE at work, I'm sure you can get past the learning curve with them.

Once students get immersed in the program their using, the location of tools, etc... really becomes a minor issue.

It's not like you're teaching them a CAD program that they must commit to for their entire lives.

Without the monetary incentive, I'd go SW (it's free, and just as easy to get as inventor); but money talks, and I'd go ProE if they sponsor.

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Joe Johnson

We applied. And you are right, if they give us the bucks, then it swamps other considerations, but failing that, I think that SolidWorks is a good choice.

Thanks everyone for the great input.

Joe J.

Joe, the PTC money can come by using other software, as well. Windchill and MathCAD both count. We used MathCAD for some autonomous development last year and received the PTC grant.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Madison

Joe, the PTC money can come by using other software, as well. Windchill and MathCAD both count. We used MathCAD for some autonomous development last year and received the PTC grant.

Applying now, that's a great deal!

[Mr. Lim]

Not really much of an "opinion" to state here, but here is Team 610's current software line-up with respect to our complete workflow (not just CAD):

- Google Apps for:

- Gmail: student, teacher + mentor e-mail addresses
- Calendar: shared calendar with meetings, supervision schedule, events
- Zoho Project: project management, task lists, wiki
- Groups: e-mail lists for entire team, mentors, student executive
- Docs: Team lists, project notes, budgets, inventories, "to-buy" lists
- Code: Code version control w/ SVN and integrate NetBeans client

- SolidWorks for CAD
- VisualMill Plug-in for Solidworks (to drive our CNC Router)
- Windows-based file shares for document storage on school intranet

- Remote access to shares using HTTP Commander

I've had a chance to try Inventor, PTC WildFire + WindChill, and various other software combinations over the past few years. This is the best I've managed to come up with so far, and so far I've been very happy with it.

[mplanchard]

Hi Joe

Thank you for being a FIRST mentor. For SolidWorks sponsorship go to www.solidworks.com/SponsoredDesignContest

Also, you are a great SolidWorks customer and since we just moved our corporate headquarters to Waltham, if you want a crash rush - up to speed course, I am willing to come visit you. Just send me a private message to arrange a time. Also, iRobot helped me out when I was teaching design camp at Umass Lowell. Your engineers were very inspiring to my young students. Marie

[DavidGitz]

Originally Posted by buildmaster5000

I would be surprised to see a school district block access to the dropbox website. I was even able to install the client on a school computer, without admin privileges. The convenience and ease of use of dropbox is second to none IMHO.

It is blocked at our school. We were told to try to use Live Mesh to fit our needs. It kind of worked but didn't give the same seamless operation as does Dropbox. We tried Live Mesh for a while but after concluding that it was more of a hindrance than a help we convinced the IT department to allow us access to an unrestricted internet drop so we can use Dropbox. However, we now have to employ our own safeguard routines (AVG, account access, etc) to prevent unauthorized/inappropriate usage.