Does anyone have a VexIQ parts library for Onshape? There are a few coaches and STEM teachers that are looking for one. Since we haven’t been able to find anything suitable, we are planning on creating our own.
The new parts library would be similar to this VRC version:
It would have:
All the individual parts categorized into a folder hierarchy
Composite parts (like omni-wheels) grouped so that they do not separate once imported
Meaningful descriptions for parts
Meaningful Bill of Materials
Public permissions so that anyone can use it
Be kept up to date when new products are released
There is some tedious work involved in creating a library like this. But if more people work on it, then it will get done quicker. Please message me if you can help.
Yea, that will be the starting input. Importing those files is time-consuming and there is some cleanup after import. Having a parts library alleviates that issue, once the library is set up.
Here is the completed VexIQ parts library for Onshape. Thank you to @Rene_Mercer for coming up with the idea to create this and for doing half the work.
The name of the library is “VexIQ Parts Lib 2021”. Search for that document name when inserting parts into assemblies.
As far as I know, there are no newer Vex IQ parts libraries. I believe that OnShape is considering creating an “official” parts library for IQ, but I don’t know the timetable for that.
From my own experience and conversations with other Vex IQ team organizers, CAD with Vex IQ works best if it is part of a class or training. OnShape is not difficult for younger students to learn, and they can have fun with it. However, there is no real advantage to using CAD with Vex IQ teams. It is much quicker to build prototypes out of real parts. In fact, the kids are likely to get frustrated with CAD and develop a bad impression of it if they have to use it to design their robot because it will get in the way and slow them down. CAD starts to become useful in VRC.
As far as I know, yes. Our IQ team uses OnShape and the library posted by @jrp62 is the most recent library. OnShape also published a VexIQ library from 2018. But Coach Palardy’s is the most recent that we’re aware of.
Thanks for the quick reply. I think some teams may want to use it to retrospectively document their robot for their engineering notebook so they can include plans to build their robot in their notebooks.
Also for students approaching the aging out of IQ in to VRC, this could serve as dipping their toes in the water to get them started.
I am a (cough) several decades long user of Solid Edge and from what I have seen, OnShape gives the most intuitive use of building assemblies by allowing you to constrain planes & cylinders as you would in higher powered CAD packages.
I will play around a little in it and then see if it is easy enough to teach the roboteers how to use it so they can document their designs.
OnShape is, indeed, one of the “high-end” CAD packages. The company was founded in 2012 by Jon Hirschtick and John McEleney, who were the originators of SolidWorks after they sold SolidWorks to Dassalt Systems, the owner of Catia. (This makes Dassalt the owner of the two largest CAD software packages used in the automotive industry.)
When Jon and John started OnShape, their goal was to build a package as powerful as SolidWorks, but operating on the OnShape servers, thus allowing anyone to regardless of local computer performance, to use a high-end CAD system.
If I wasn’t already a SolidWorks user, I’d be looking seriously at OnShape. But for my company, SoldWorks has the features we need, especially in the areas of BOM and multi-body weldments (which is seriously lacking in Inventor, which is why we ditched it and upgraded our company to SW).
@jrp62 Could you give me instructions on how to organize new parts to supplement your library? There are some new connectors available and I would like to create (or add) to your library to get those parts loaded, but I am not sure how to upload/save/organize the parts in onshape to mimic what you have already started.
This would be the place where a PM system would be lovely to allow us to have a phone call or email in order to not hash this out in public in the forum.
For the time being, we can update the existing IQ parts lib, or create a supplement lib. The first step is to create the list of parts we want to add. Have you already started on that?
We have 500 in VEX from 3-12, in both VEXIQ and V5. Pandemic got all students with Chromebooks, and I anticipate next year the Workbook will be a shared Google Docs format (so teamwork 7x24). Kids are killing Roblok, so they’re primed now to “construct” with OnShape “parts”, if we can get a library for the 2023-24 Challenge. CAD really part of the “try, fail, try again” mentality of VEX
Since we never apparently had a VEXIQ library, and neither library in 2022, how can we get support to make this a sustained effort, year after year, and get it done for 2023-24?? As the “manufacturer” of legal parts, didn’t VEX have to go through the digital design phase already for each approved part??
This library is not something that I use myself because I do not have any students using CAD for IQ. During the school year (August-May), I’m focused on helping my teams and helping out at local events. The off-season is when I work on stuff like this.
Going forward, I do not plan on maintaining the IQ parts library. I will, however, post the process that we went through to create the original library should anyone wish to maintain or extend it.
As mentioned previously, Onshape has considered creating an Official VexIQ parts library. If that happens you’ll want to use that.
Here is the process we followed to create the existing IQ parts lib. If you want to extend what’s already there, follow the instructions. Send me a PM if you plan on working on this, and I’ll give you edit permissions to the existing documents.
However, a better way would be to separate the lib into multiple documents, like the Official V5 library is structured. The process would be different for a lib organized that way. Keep in mind that Onshape may release an Official IQ lib at some point in time. This whole thing becomes obsolete when and if that happens.
Create a “staging” or preliminary version of the library. This file should not be public. Only share it with people that are helping create the final library.
Phase I - Individual single piece parts
Import all the STEP files into this lib.
Each STEP file will become a parts studio in Onshape.
Rename each part to begin with the common name, followed by the part number.
Some of the STEP files were imported with weird colors for me, and I had to go back and change their colors from the parts studios.
Create an assembly for each group of parts, for instance, an assembly named Shafts.
For each of those assemblies, import the parts from the parts studios that you want to include
The way they are positioned in the assembly is important, and it is actually best if you don’t try to move them at all when adding them to the assembly. I reorganized some of the parts in my assemblies, which made the assembly look nice, but then when you add parts to a real design, the parts do not start at the origin.
For each assembly, export it as a STEP file.
Now create another parts lib (Final Lib), which will be the one users will actually get parts from. The Final Lib will be public, but wait to share it until it is ready.
Import each assembly STEP file into the Final Lib, and select the option to “Combine into a Single Part Studio” while importing.
Phase II - Wheels and Electronics that are comprised of multiple parts that need to stay together.
(NOTE - For parts with multiple pieces, the Official V5 Parts Lib followed a different process, which is better, but requires advanced Onshape skills.)
Import STEP files into the staging lib, select the option to combine into a single part studio.
Clean up any part name or color issues within the part studio.
Rename the first part in the list of parts to the name of the entire part. For instance, if the first part in an omni wheel is named “276-2185-000 Rev4”, rename it to ‘"Omni Wheel’
Now from the Final Lib, create an assembly for the part and insert the part studio from the staging lib into the assembly in the final lib.
For each part in the assembly, modify the properties so that “Exclude from BOM” is checked. Do this for all parts in the assembly, except for the part that you renamed in step 14. So if an omni wheel has 121 parts, 1 would be included, and 120 would be excluded from the BOM.
Select all the parts in the new assembly and group them.
Rename the group to the name of the part.
When you are done, change the permissions on the Final Lib to public, but leave the staging lib private. Do not delete the staging lib, the main lib is referencing it. Never delete it.
(NOTE - There is another way to do this, for advanced Onshape users)
More notes: In the official parts lib, the color is correctly set, the material of each piece of each part is correct (so that the mass of the entire part is correct), the vendor is set to “VEX Robotics”, the part number is populated correctly, and the description contains the URL to the part where it is sold on the VEX website.