Hey quick question,
How long on average does it take to construct a model of a robot in Solidworks or Inventor? I know it depends on the design but if you could estimate how long would you say it took you?
To completely finish a robot in Inventor it could take me a month. It could take a couple weeks if I work my butt off on it and spend every second of my free time doing it. In the summer I could probably do this. I pretty much finished my robot in CAD a couple days ago (finished a complete robot, but it’s going to have a different drive soon,) and so it took me probably right around a month, as the first test for a drivetrain dates to 5/25/2011.
So, on average for me I would say during the school year it would take me around a month. During the summer if I’m free a lot, and spend all my time on it, I could probably get a full robot design done in around 2 weeks or so.
~Jordan
So I’m guessing modeling designs in a CAD program is not as efficient as drawing them on out on paper.
I believe that both are important in the design process. First think up your design, then draw it out in a small amount of detail, and then I would move onto CADing it, if you’re still serious about that design. In CAD you can really see how things fit and line up, and my times were for complete robot models, as in every screw, nut, bolt; everything. You can get a basic idea done quite quickly, but once you get down to everything and making sure it fits, it can take a while.
~Jordan