Inventor 2013 or 2014?

[thefro526]

If you're comfortable with 2013, then 2014 isn't going to 'feel' that much different. Like most Inventor updates, the only significant changes are some new features and new add-on functions, but the basic 95% is more or less exactly the same as the previous version. Like Calvin mentioned above, you do want to be aware of whether or not those who you work with frequently are on 2013 or 2014, since the files aren't backwards compatible.

[inventor_phild]

All,

Good comments. Autodesk will be posting the Kit of Parts and field model after the kick-off in early January. They will be available in Autodesk 2014 format and for those who are using an earlier version there will be STEP versions.

New functionality in 2014 that may of interest is the additional functionality for assembly constraints. Here is an overview from Cadalyst magazine.

http://www.cadalyst.com/cad/inventor...7506?page_id=1

You can also check Inventor Help for the work flow.

I will post some tips for 2014 that improves working with large assemblies such as your final robot model.

[Nemo]

Inexplicably, Project Lead The Way kept its participating schools on Inventor 2013 this year. That factor has no doubt kept a lot of FRC teams on Inventor 2013 for a second year.

I'll be looking forward to upgrading to 2014 (edit: 2015). It has a slot tool and symmetric mate tools.

[Walter Deitzler]

I ended up going with 2014. While our school does use 2013, the robotics team does not use school computers for out CAD, we have an independent laptop, and now my new one. Seeing as the CAD is done primarily by myself and another kid who is still learning, this is not an issue.

I like how similar the two are, after playing around for the better part of the morning. One thing I have to ask though, how does one go about determining the weight of a system? I have all of my materials for my parts selected and all, I just need to figure out how to get the overall weight.

Thanks for all of the help guys!

[Nemo]

Originally Posted by LedLover96

I ended up going with 2014. While our school does use 2013, the robotics team does not use school computers for out CAD, we have an independent laptop, and now my new one. Seeing as the CAD is done primarily by myself and another kid who is still learning, this is not an issue.

I like how similar the two are, after playing around for the better part of the morning. One thing I have to ask though, how does one go about determining the weight of a system? I have all of my materials for my parts selected and all, I just need to figure out how to get the overall weight.

Thanks for all of the help guys!

Go into the assembly's iProperties in the browser bar, then go to the Physical tab. You'll probably have to hit Update.

[magnets]

I'd actually recommend 2013. Autodesk isn't known for having polished first releases on their software, and 2014 is still pretty buggy for me. Importing our 2011 robot step file into 2013 takes 15 seconds. Importing the same file in 2014 takes 5 minutes. On the school computers, we have graphics issues, and when under load (zooming large assemblies, placing huge assemblies...) it locks up quite often.

The new features of 2014 aren't really that spectacular, and if you can live without them, I'd stay away from it.