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Originally Posted by Michael Hill
I'm just wondering why FIRST/Autodesk gives us Inventor instead of AutoCAD. AutoCAD is used MUCH more in the real world...
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AutoCAD is primarily a 2D-based drafting platform while Inventor is a 3D-based. Whether a company uses AutoCAD or Inventor is based off their needs. There are a lot of companies that use CAD software for 2D use, such as blueprints of buildings, but have no need to model complex assemblies in 3D. Sure, you can model your house in 3D, but the blueprints needed to build the house are only 2D drawings. So for some companies, why buy Inventor when all you need is AutoCAD?
On the other hand, engineering companies that design 3D components would be more likely to use a 3D-drafting program such as SolidWorks or Inventor. Sure, AutoCAD can extrude parts and such to create 3D components, but Inventor is better suited to take dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of individual components and combine them into a single assembly.
Since robotics generally involves a lot more 3D-modeling than 2D-drafting, we have Inventor. Also, the 10 licenses of Inventor given to each team are the most expensive item in our annual Kit of Parts from FIRST. If any company is donating products worth thousands of dollars to every FRC team, shouldn't we be thankful for said product?
