Hi guys, I am thinking about using Onshape for my team’s design team. I just want to ask how you guys that use Onshape make a mentor account for the software(Not sure if I should even call it a software), I want to do this so I can assign my design team assignments.
P.S. If any of you have suggestions on how to properly use Onshape or ways to share it among members without a mentor account, please let me know, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you all.
-David Turner
@Ty_Tremblay may have some advice for you. 319 has done an open design using OnShape the past two seasons.
It’s a bit late in the season to begin designing a robot, let alone learning a new software to do it, but maybe it can help you figure out some geometry.
To create a, “Team,” in onshape, go to your settings, click on trams, and the press create. You can name the team, and then invite people to the team via email.
When you sign up for onshape, and when your students go to www.onshape.com/edu/frc. You will get a free educational license that way.
Once you’re in on a document you can assign team members to tasks via the comments functionality.
I created a “master account” using the email address provided by the school. I added the team members to the OnShape Team as Cyberphil described.
I created workspaces and documents in the master account for the team to create parts and assemblies in. Otherwise, if team members create parts and assemblies that get used in higher level assemblies and then they leave and delete the account or they change the parts, it affects the higher level assemblies. We have had up to three people working at the same time in the same workspace and it can get confusing as people move objects around or hide/unhide them.
As already mentioned, this is late in the season to start learning to use any CAD program.
If you are going to use it, aim to work out geometries and rough packaging. We have found the “mates” in OnShape (constraints in other CAD programs) tricky to apply so that parts and assemblies are not overconstrained. Sometimes, it has taken an hour or two to resolve a conflict in the mates. Clearly we are missing something 
Even though the CAD data storage and data manipulation is not done on your computer, there is still a time lag when there is a lot of detail. I imported the STEP files of the AndyMark KOP chassis and made simplified versions by doing things like deleting the belts and pulleys, deleting the gears from inside the gearbox and replacing the wheels with simple disks. I also made an assembly consisting of only the loading station wall section (also simplified) and a flat plane to serve as a floor. Soon, I will probably also make a simplified Cargo Ship section with floor and simplified Rocket Ship section with floor. Let me know if you do end up using OnShape and I will provide links for these.