I am using Onshape a CAD software and it is very time consuming to attach each and every part of our robot design such as make our drive train in the software any solution to make it easier or quicker to design in The Software.
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Just keep doing it. CAD software is time consuming but watching someone who is good at it is like watching a master painter. How effortlessly and quickly they can build a drawing. That is a skill that will pay big money in the future.
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Welcome to a “real life” software program…Like any other useful skill that you’re adding to your talent stack, learning to use CAD software proficiently takes time and practice. The CAD designers in my company have a minimum of a 2-year associates degree in mechanical design (we use SolidWorks, but it is similar to OnShape), and they still have more to learn when they are hired on, as we use many of the more advanced features in the software.
As you continue to use the software, you’ll get faster doing various processes. You might explore some of the keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys available to speed things along too: Keyboard Shortcuts and Hotkeys
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CAD using subassemblies so that you can easily linear pattern and copy larger parts of your robot at once. For example I CAD each wheel with a gear screwed to it in a separate assembly tab at the bottom of the page and then linear pattern that wheel-gear assembly across the drive well c-channels. Then once I’ve made one drive well I make another assembly for the whole drivetrain where I just linear pattern the drive well subassembly. CADing in this way also makes it much easier to work on specific parts of the robot as you can simply open the individual subassemblies to work on them. Since your computer is only loading that small part of your robot, the performance is greatly improved. This performance increase is one of the biggest ways to save time while CADing.
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Other replies are quite right, it takes time to build proficiency and speed. Even as you are figuring out CAD, though, time spent modeling is time saved building.
If you know in advance the full build, construction is quick. You have already figured out tough connections, and you have a clear idea of how each subsystem is built and connects to the whole. This lets more people build sub components simultaneously to maximize person hours.
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As others have pointed out, CAD will always take time and is a skill that is learned through a lot of practice. I will say that learning about all of the tools that CAD programs such as Onshape have to offer will save you time, as you will find tools that can eliminate repetitive work. Another very simple time saver too is learning the shortcuts of a program, Onshape has many very helpful shortcuts that can reduce modeling/assembling time a lot
Thank you for telling me this I shall work even harder on the CAD knowing it could help me in the future to get a job.
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Thanks for telling me about adding more assembly tabs to make it easier to build.
are you using mate connectors
No i am not but If you know any videos or websites which could help my team learn mate connectors please tell.
I had the same problems. mate connectors are ways to fasten different objects in CAD. It saves a lot of time and is very accurate. I had the same problem before I was shown them by someone on a sister team.
this video should help
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You shouldn’t need to create mate connectors if you are bolting together off-the-shelf VEX parts. The connectors should be there for. Mate connectors would need to be added for things like plastic sheets that don’t have pre-configured holes.
Most new users will have issues using the fasteners if they don’t know about using the shift key to select the surface before trying to select the connection point.
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Thank you for all of these sources my team and I shall watch them and learn about this
I just started using Onshape as well, but it probably will take some time to quick with it. However, I discovered using it on PC is quicker than a laptop . However, if after a while you still find it time consuming, try using Protobot. The only downside to it is that it is only PC compatable and requires download.
My team used protobot last year. It works pretty well (im not sure if it is updated for Ove Under yet) but it doesn’t have a complete parts list which made it a pain when designing the robot. For example no pneumatics really set us back in the CAD department.
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It’s in the process of updating for Over Under.
I made one side of our drive train, so is there any way I could just copy and flip it so I have both left and right sides?
Precisely. Ever gotten good at a video game? You started bad. Think about what your reward system is in CAD if you’re having difficulty motivating the work. Put a part in a good place, make it interact statically or dynamically with its context, see a structure or mechanism, imagine it in play on the field.
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