Does CAD get respect on your team?

[TimCraig]

There is a copy of Inventor 6 and Inventor 10 on the club computer. Neither has had the authorization code entered. What CAD drawings get done, I do at home.

[KTorak]

I'd *love* to learn how to use it, becuase I dont know how. If I actually could learn how to use it, 1023 would actually have CAD drawings. Instead we just kinda sketch it out...do some sort of prototype (like 2x4s and plywood) then tweak for a final design.

[sburro]

Originally Posted by Henry Anthony

I am wondering if your team considers CAD as an important part of the competition or is there little interest in it?

CAD is theonly way to go for 663. Without CAD, your machinist might get mad if you need to add a hole here or there. It is much easier to do when teh part is already dialed in. CAD (solidworks in our case) also helps our team determine how much we weigh. (sually light be 5 lbs). I believe that any project that involves machining should be done in CAD. You willl find out that a "real" engineer is required to build their project in CAD BEFORE it hits the machine shop. There is no such thing as a drill.

[Anubuss]

Originally Posted by Henry Anthony

I am wondering if your team considers CAD as an important part of the competition or is there little interest in it?

CAD is all well an good, but personaly, our team uses Solid Works, and thanks to one of our engineers, we have a whole computer room with it loaded on every one.

[Daniel Brim]

Originally Posted by Anubuss

CAD is all well an good, but personaly, our team uses Solid Works, and thanks to one of our engineers, we have a whole computer room with it loaded on every one.

Solidworks is a CAD program.

[ICE MAN]

Originally Posted by Henry Anthony

I am wondering if your team considers CAD as an important part of the competition or is there little interest in it?

Are you kidding? Without auto-cad how could we even begin to build our robot. For my team cad is the heart of our success, without it we would surely die. Plus if your team doesn't use cad to design your robot then what do you use?

[Henry Anthony]

Originally Posted by ICE MAN

Are you kidding? Without auto-cad how could we even begin to build our robot. For my team cad is the heart of our success, without it we would surely die. Plus if your team doesn't use cad to design your robot then what do you use?

Paper and pencil pretty much. Problem is, there are no computers available in our build facility that can run Inventor. Also, very little interest in learning it.

[EricRobodox]

Last year and this year, the two years i have been on the team, we have set building the robot as priority over cad and animation. Its not that we dont like to do it, just we are a student ran team, where we can proudly say that adults did not fabricate one thing on the robot. This year especially because we only had hand tools to build with as ou school got rid of the metal shop and most of the machines in the woodshop.

But, i have an interest in it, im in charge of all the software that comes in, which also makes me the only one on the team that knows how to use it. Hopefully, next year i can get the software up at the school and teach others, in which we can do a CAD/Inventor entry.

So, no, my team does not make it a priority, but i try to make it one.

[Henry Anthony]

Originally Posted by EricRobodox

...we are a student ran team, where we can proudly say that adults did not fabricate one thing on the robot. This year especially because we only had hand tools to build with as ou school got rid of the metal shop and most of the machines in the woodshop.

Hang in there Eric. I think a lot of teams do not have the best facilities. Ours started in the basement of the school with no tools other than the ones you brought from home. You sound like a motivated person. Try to get Inventor up and running somewhere or at home. It is not that hard to learn. Good luck!

[EricRobodox]

I know it already. Well to design parts. Im not dissing other teams earlier, just we dont have a lot of help others have. And we also are basically one half the team are all new people, so teach them to fabricate as well as trying to build a quality robot in the short time doesnt give us enough time or people to do CAD and Inventor.

I do use it at home. I was able to create our chassis this year, but not much else. I am trying to figure more stuff out with the program to design my go-kart... Small part of it here
But, i can make parts, i just dont know how to weld and attach them to other parts. but im trying to learn on my own. Any tutorial would be great, but i cant find that many free tutorials that help me a lot.

[SpaceBoy2000]

Well...depends. The chassis was CADed after it was built by two new guys. I had to CAD basically everything else except the cannon, which was CADed by the new guys when the chassis was finished. I find that CAD helped the most in motor mounts (having preCADed motors meant I can CAD the holes really really fast) and the big lexan hopper (using sheet metal to model the bends made it a LOT easier than winging it). However, stuff like the electronics systems were not CADed. The battery mount and electronics was slapped on. However, the parts that were done on CAD were probably the fastest to be manufactured and assembled. But, when something messed up, didn't work, or just needed modifications, it usually isn't done in CAD, as it is easier to just change it on the spot. That said, CAD was key to getting the general design down, especially to see how different mechanisms fit together. This year, we were able to complete the majority of the robot a few days before ship date, allowing us to troubleshoot and tinker with the design before the competition. CAD does give a speed bonus I believe, at least in the beginning. However, due to a lack of personnel, it cannot keep up with the manufacturing after a while, thus, it loses importance later on.

That and the fact that school work piles on near the end of the season. Since almost all the major parts are completed, I spend less time on CAD, and more on keeping up my grades, so the robot deviates more and more from the CAD.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by EricRobodox

But, i can make parts, i just dont know how to weld and attach them to other parts. but im trying to learn on my own. Any tutorial would be great, but i cant find that many free tutorials that help me a lot.

Have you tried the Inventor tutorials? They are under the "Help" menu.

[EricRobodox]

I looked at them, but there are so many it gets a little overwhelming, and also, from trying to learn 3ds max that way, they tell you how to do it, but i like it when you can see it be done, then imitate. I have found a lot of video 3ds max tutorials, not many for inventor. Also, i dont find doing small little parts on different projects much of a tutorial. I like learning one basic at a time and build one full project from the scratch to learn. I just find i learn faster that way.

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by EricRobodox

I looked at them, but there are so many it gets a little overwhelming, and also, from trying to learn 3ds max that way, they tell you how to do it, but i like it when you can see it be done, then imitate. I have found a lot of video 3ds max tutorials, not many for inventor. Also, i dont find doing small little parts on different projects much of a tutorial. I like learning one basic at a time and build one full project from the scratch to learn. I just find i learn faster that way.

I've been doing CAD professionally for over 20 years and I'm still learning how to do new stuff. The systems now are capable of so much more than when I started out. But the only reason I can still do stuff is I kept up my skills. Sometimes that means going out an looking for CAD work to do, I call it "proficiency time"

The important thing is to practice, practice, practice. Draw little do-hickies that just look cool. Try drawing a Kline's bottle (just don't be suprised if Inventor freaks out, you might have to trick it to get that one to work). Try designing next year's drive train. Try a new kitchen gadget. Hmmm Maybe I'll try designing a decent egg beater for my wife and pop it into an SLS machine to build it.

[Henry Anthony]

Originally Posted by ChrisH

Try drawing a Kline's bottle (just don't be suprised if Inventor freaks out, you might have to trick it to get that one to work).

I would love to try a Kline's bottle! But what is a Kline's bottle?