Improving team's CAD skills

[ofekfischer]

hi,
I am an alumni of FRC currently studying mechanical engineering in university. I am also a solidworks mentor in my team. Throughout the season we've had many CAD related delays. It seems that the preparation during the pre-season wasn't good enough (too short and not organized mostly). As for preparation for next season, I believe that it would be good to start as early as possible, so we will be ready next season. That's where things get tricky. I'm planning to work with the CAD team and teach them first the basics of mechanics (as the make the detailed planning of the robot) and some technical drawing, and than move on to solidworks. It is clear to me that it won't be possible to get them to a level where they completely master the software, as it will be limited in time since they have their high-school duties, and it's off-season. Therefore, I am thinking on witch tools/features are the most FRC relevant ones and witch should be left to self learning through some kind of exercising/project. We have a sponsor who manufactures the parts for us, mostly with sheet metal, thus I would focus on that, but also with cnc for some more complicated parts. What other tips do you have for CAD training specifically for FRC?