It’s great that you decided to use a modelling program to design your robot, and even better that you have already downloaded Fusion 360. I’ve been using the program for a few months now, so I’m definitely not a pro but do know a few things.
First, I would recommend that you download the parts library that was released here: VEX CAD Fusion 360 Parts Library Release Log
It’s a one time process that all first timer users go through that might take 1-2 hours. You need to download the zip-file, uncompress the folder, and then 1 by 1 upload each item into your Fusion 360 project folder (from within the application, not through windows file explorer).
Also, DOWNLOAD THE ADD-IN! When modelling, you will definitely need to change the size of your c-channels or axles, the add-in will save you a lot of time. It’s a button called “modify”, sort of like the “move” and “joint” buttons you may see. Once downloaded, to manipulate the length of your object, all you need to do is go to the “Vex CAD Library” tab, click on “Modify”, and then you can specify which length you need down to the millimetre.
The 2 items above are ways to get started. Some other general tips for a first time user are:
- it’ll take a few hours of using to get comfortable with the program if this is your first time using a modelling program. Try not to get frustrated and remember you can ask for help on the Vex CAD server.
- Use hotkeys. Instead of having to click “Move” or “Modify” or any other command every time you need to use it, you can assign those commands to letters on your keyboard, so for instance you could just hit “M” on your keyboard and if you have an object selected, the move interface will pop up.
- when orbiting, you don’t need to go to the top right and spin the cube. If you have a mouse (highly recommended, using a trackpad in this program is pretty hard), you just need to hold shift and then hold down the scroll wheel on your mouse to orbit however you need. Much more efficient than going to the orientation cube every time.
- when modelling, you don’t need to make everything a joint, unless you want to see how multiple objects connected together would move in real life. Instead, it’s much faster to just drag objects to where they should be using the move command.
- speaking of the move command, you don’t need to use it every time you want to move something. If your part is all one-piece (like a ball or a c-channel) you can just double click the object (so it’s all highlighted) and then drag it around. For objects that are not 1 piece, like sprockets or motors or field goals, just select it from the list on the left of your screen and then drag the object itself around.
Some of these tips may be hard to understand without some previous experience with the program, but I’m sure they’ll quickly make sense soon enough. Good luck!