Our team is planning on using Solidworks this year. If we request licenses now, we will be getting the 2013 software. However, the 2014 software is supposed to come out in October. When this happens, will we be able to upgrade to 2014?
Replying because I’m also interested in the answer.
Note: I’m not on the CAD team, so I’m just relaying information that I’ve seen posted on our team’s Facebook group. Hopefully it is remotely helpful.
Our team has requested our licenses within the past month, and are using a newer revision of the software than what we had last year. I can get the revision number if needed, but I believe it is the 2013 version.
When you request your licenses for the software, you will ultimately end up at this page to download: http://www.solidworks.com/sw/education/SDL_form.html
Instructions can also be found here: http://www.solidworks.com/sw/docs/EDU_SW_EDU_Product_Install_Instr_2013_ENG.pdf [pdf]. The screenshots in this PDF make it seem like the 2013 version is what is provided for the 2013-2014 duration.
Maybe those links can help you glean some useful information.
Sorry I can’t be of more help.
We have been sponsored by SoidWorks for several years now. It is my understanding that the sponsorships are for the past year version of SolidWorks. For instance, if you request this year, you will receive the 2013 version (which by the way will not run on XP) and it will be good until next December.
Our school also purchases Educational Licenses for our 3 D Design and Presentation class. The version we currently have is 2013. We receive the new version in late Spring of each year. Students will be taking certification tests on this version right before school is out.
The sponsorship program is great. I highly recommend it.
Hope this helps,
Norman
The difference between 2013 and 2014 will likely be unnoticeable to someone who hasn’t been using Solidworks for years and years, for what it’s worth.
Just to confirm, the SW sponsorship for the 2013-2014 school year is for SW 2013 SP03 (at least 64bit is SP03). We received our sponsorship the other day.
We have been using older versions, as that is what the school system has, and finally have enough personal computers to go away from school system assets. There are some cool new things, but most of the day to day operations are relatively the same between versions.
I usually apply for 2791’s licenses in December and we get the version matching the calendar year. I believe this is true for the entire school year - you’ll get 2013. It’s not like each version is drastically different in a way that someone modelling for FRC purposes would really be able to notice and take advantage of anyway.
For Robot Sponsorship, we send SolidWorks Academic Year 2013-2014. This is based on the commerical release of 2013.
Go to www.solidworks.com/StudentSponsorship
Fill out the application for SolidWorks Sponsorship.
New this year is SolidWorks Electrical. Please request on your sponsorship application if you would like to receive SolidWorks Electrical.
Included in SolidWorks 2013-2014 is:
SolidWorks Premium
SolidWorks Simulation Premium
SolidWorks Flow Simulation
SolidWorks Sustainability
SolidWorks Workgroup PDM and
SolidWorks Electrical (if requested in the application)
Use Tools>Add Ins to turn on these applications and PhotoView 360.
Any team can request SolidWorks software through our sponsorship program. Fall is a great time to learn new SolidWorks skills at
www.solidworks.com/tutorials. Marie
For Robot Sponsorship, we send SolidWorks Academic Year 2013-2014. This is based on the commerical release of 2013.
Go to www.solidworks.com/StudentSponsorship
Fill out the application for SolidWorks Sponsorship.
New this year is SolidWorks Electrical. Please request on your sponsorship application if you would like to receive SolidWorks Electrical.
Included in SolidWorks 2013-2014 is:
SolidWorks Premium
SolidWorks Simulation Premium
SolidWorks Flow Simulation
SolidWorks Sustainability
SolidWorks Workgroup PDM and
SolidWorks Electrical (if requested in the application)
Use Tools>Add Ins to turn on these applications and PhotoView 360.
Any team can request SolidWorks software through our sponsorship program. Fall is a great time to learn new SolidWorks skills at
www.solidworks.com/tutorials. Marie
Just wanted to post that Autodesk gives their software for free to all FIRST teams. I think it’s a better program for what they give you. But of course it’s the decision of the team as to what to do.
Solidworks gives their software to teams for free as well and is much more widely used in industry.
Depending on the industry, of course.
Some of them use AutoCAD pretty heavily. Smaller shops with some CAD needs are pretty much all SW, however. Creo/ProE is used extensively in some industries also.
I was referring to Inventor and assumed for all practical purposes that AutoCAD is largely dead outside of the architectural business.