CAD Drawings etc.

[cruncher]

Hi just wondereing which program is the best to use and which one you people use???

Jono

[big_nipper]

CAD Drawings etc.

We use AutoCad. Well actually my brother uses it I just stand over him and tell him that wont work

[stu]

CAD Drawings etc.

LOL!!!!!

Mr Stu

[Mouldy]

CAD Drawings etc.

Yea same, I like my autocad 200i But its probably not the best package for 3D work, the more expensive vershions are very good for making mock-ups of a robot on screen, check out http://www.teamhurtz.comwww.teamhurtz.com .

Dave moulds
Team Turbine

[jim]

CAD Drawings etc.

I like QCad, available from http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad.html>http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad.html. The 1.x versions are free and it works on DXF files which are the AutoCAD standard. It has Windows & Linux versions which is a big plus for me. Its 2D only and I expect a professional draughtsman would find it a bit lacking, but it does everything I need.

[Guest]

CAD Drawings etc.

Im a professional Draftsman, but I havnt seen that progam. Actually I find AutoCAD limiting for designing robots even though I use it a work. For designing my robots I use SolidWorks 2000, but I cant seem to get it to work since I upgraded to Windows XP, but I havnt really tried either. Also at work at the moment I playing around with AutoDesk Inventor. From a drafting point of veiw SolidWorks and Inventor are pathetic compared to AutoCAD, but from a designing point of veiw they are ****ing brillant.
I have designed Hellbringer, The Aggressor and Adversary on SolidWorks and not only did the parts for robots go to together smoothly, but I knew the exact weight of the robot before I even started cutting.

Oh, and Jim, a standard AutoCAD drawing file is a DWG file, not a DXF. But AutoCAD does save and read DXF files.

[glen]

CAD Drawings etc.

i use rhin3d with the flamingo addon i got from http://www.rhino3d.comwww.rhino3d.com

all 4 of my robots have been done in Rhino, and all of them have gone together smoothly. altough using CAD is the reason why my robots are always so damn small lol.

one thing i have found is you cant calculate weight with rhino (or am i missing something?)

btw does anyone know where i can get a free download of AutoCAD or solidworks? id like to have a go at using those.

[storm]

CAD Drawings etc.

Autodesk Inventor all the way !

[fwsorg]

CAD Drawings etc.

Lots of good packages suggested. I use quite a lot as all my CAM and CNC software seems to have different prefernces on what it wants to import.

The parametric software is probably best for robot designing due to inherent advantages (rhino being NURBS which is slightly differnet- better for free-form modeling, but really down to your preference) 4 common CAD packages that spring to mind are Pro/Desktop, Pro/Engineer (pro desktops bigger brother), Autodesk and Solidworks. Pro/Desktop and Autodesk are very very good lower end CAD packages, and should handle most things you would want to use in a robot. Neither of them hold a candle to Pro/Engineer and Solidworks, but as to which of those to is better, it depends who you ask. CAD types can get quite emotional about it The problem with these packages is that, if youre starting out (as is infered from your post) then they might appear very complex and quite arcane. Much better to start of with autodesk inventor or Pro/Desktop, which, once youve learnt the basics, are very easy to get skilled at quickly. I normally use Pro/Desktop for most things as it can handle most things- included on my profile is a pic of some jet engine parts I built on Pro/Desktop to see how far it can go. Pro/Engineer is lightyears better but complex, as I said, and leaning much more towards the CAM side of things. I rarely use it for robot stuff, in no small part due to the fact that my computer creeks and groans trying to model stuff on it- its a bit of a beast of a program (its installation is spread over 3 CDs :S )

So, In conclusion, Pro/Desktop or autodesk- very good pacakges and they should handle most things you throw at them. As PTC seems to be giving up with supporting Pro/Desktop, and with there being more support for Autodesk, Id go with autodesk.

Glen, Solidworks seem to change their site around on a monthly basis, and downloading anything from their site is a bit of a pain as you practically have to sign your life away in forms before getting anywhere. They do offer a student version for much less, but it terminates after 2 years (whats up with that?) so your best bet is to find some nice person who doesnt mind accidently lending you the CDs and codes. Thats what I did ;-) As for calculating weight, any of the parametric software should do it, but I cant think where Id start looking on Rhino. Thingyma-bob from Ceros seems to know his rhino- hed be the man to ask.

[knightrous]

CAD Drawings etc.

***one thing i have found is you cant calculate weight with rhino (or am i missing something?)***

Your missing something Next time your online, I´ll show you how.

[cruncher]

CAD Drawings etc.

I downloaded Rhino 3d and all i tried i couldnt get the hang of it!

[stu]

CAD Drawings etc.

Jono, you dont need cad mate.
Just get a load of bits, and bodge something together for your first time. You will learn alot by it. Then at a later date you can re design and improve on your current ideas etc.

Mr Stu

[cruncher]

CAD Drawings etc.

Yer ok,
At the mo im using Word to do my 3d drawings in ( sad )
Stu hopefully feather on the way !

Jono

[stu]

CAD Drawings etc.

Nice one.

Mr Stu

[fwsorg]

CAD Drawings etc.

Totally agree with Stu- CAD for the sake of it is pointless and just causes stress. A 2D system, of which there are many for very little money (and some are free), is a boon for designing something, printing it out in 1:1 scale, sticking it on the material to be cut and cut it out. Then your robot will assemble like a piece of flat pack furniture, which is always nice :-) Dont bother with 3D stuff for the time being.