3d modeling app

VEX IQ General Discussion General Discussion
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Is there a 3d modeling app that is able to be used for VEX robotics? if so what is it?

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A lot of great 3D modeling softwares are listed here:

If you mean apps as in those which can be found on a phone or iPad, I am not aware of any, but there probably are some.

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3

There are lots of great 3d modeling apps, and they are commonly referred to as CAD. Some of the 3d modeling sites are Onshape, Protobot, Autodesk Fusion, Autodesk inventor, and a whole lot more.

Which CAD do you use?

  • Fusion 360
  • Inventor
  • Protobot
  • Onshape
  • TinkerCad
  • Other
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4

This document might give you some helpful information:
CAD for VEX Robotics.pdf - Google Drive

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5

For V5 I know that there is Onshape, which my team uses, and Protobot, which I prefer, but I am not sure about any softwares for VEX IQ

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You can use Protobot or OnShape’s VEX Library

Protobot is the simpler CAD software designed to be intuitive and easy to use for newer or lesser experienced teams, and can be a great place to start.

Onshape can be very overwhelming but allows for much more precision and control, and is typically preferred by veteran teams

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7

For VEX IQ, you can use snapcad!

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@40404W , based off of your post history, and the wording of your question, it seems that you are in V5, not VIQ.
If so, please categorize your posts correctly. It helps prevent confusion and alert the proper people (who have notifications turned on for certain categories) to help you.

But to answer your question, it depends on preference. Some modeling apps have steep learning curves, others have better/worse UI, etc. How much time do you have to learn? Do you need to make custom parts?
(Personally, I use onshape. It’s pretty easy to learn, and is entirely web-based, so you can access the same document on various devices and collaborate on documents).

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I wouldn’t recommend 3d modeling in protobot.

Here me out before you get mad at me.
Trust me, I love protobot as much as the next person, but it isn’t the best for a couple reasons.

  1. It’s outdated
    No pneumatics, and no game pieces to reference your robot with.
  2. No community.
    If there’s a problem, its not getting fixed. If you have a question, there isn’t a place to go (besides the forum).
  3. Your motive is wrong
    This one is really important. If your modeling with protobot, your likely doing it for the notebook. People usually get this wrong. CAD is for your team, and as a benefit it looks good in the notebook.

Now, the only downside of other programs (I’ll use fusion 360 as the example) is that it’s hard. I just recently started using it to get to the next level of robot designing and notebooking and the learning curve is pretty steep. The first 3-4 hours of learning are really annoying because it’s a slow process, but after those first hours I can CAD a drivetrain with moving gears with ease.

Let me know your thoughts.

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Aggie Robotics uses Fusion 360 for their robots. Onshape is another good option as it uses cloud computing, however we find better stability with Fusion 360 more than Onshape to be honest. As for solidworks, the lack of cloud computing was not something we liked as it did not allow collaboration.

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It got updated! (by a third party)

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Which improves the usability, but there are still other programs that are better.

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How is this new version compared to the old version in how it works? Like are the controls the same or have they been changed?
This is because our team’s main CADder hated using Fusion last year and I tried protobot and found it decent, but the amount of tutorials is pretty much zero.

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It works the same, the main thing that has changed seems to be a few bug fixes and the new parts (including pneumatics) being added

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