Software to design Robot Chassis - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: praveen_khm
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2014, 12:09:11 pm
content: Hi,I am designing a robot chassis in aluminum. The chassis consist of 6 aluminum pieces put together to make a rectangular box with holes for motor and other holes to screw them together. I have tried it in cardboard and it seems ok. Now, the manufacturer has asked to make a CAD drawing of it and send it.Now for the question, which software helps me do this? I have heard of google sketchup and Autocad inventor. Do they help me do what I need? Since I am very new and fresh to CAD software, I am willing to learn any new software if it pays off in a long run. Since I need to give them details of screw hole sizes, motor mount holes, I need a software which can show me how it looks when I assemble all the 6 pieces together and also if possible add motor and wheels to see how it feels before sending for manufacturing.On the other hand, I can ask a trained person to make this for me, but I have that urge to learn that and do it myself. I know it may be difficult, but I am keen on learning.Any suggestions are welcome.Thanks,Praveen

author: Pack34
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2014, 12:49:52 pm
content: If it's just a rectangular aluminum box with motors, why not just buy one?http://www.superdroidrobots.com/shop/category.aspx/robot-kits-standard-wheels/51/

author: praveen_khm
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2014, 01:05:18 pm
content: Well, I am planning to make and sell this, but not buy it.

author: Pack34
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2014, 01:49:54 pm
content: Quote from: praveen_khm on October 28, 2014, 01:05:18 pmI'd start by asking around at places that could laser cut or CNC the final chassis for you. Considering it's such a simple design they might be able to do it for you, for a fee.EDIT:// There's nothing wrong with using SketchUp to hammer out a rough idea of what you want to make but if you're going to have these made you're going to need the necessary gcode files for the CNC to cut out your parts. If you really want to get your hands dirty in this then you will most likely need to buy and learn a program like Solidworks.Since the design is so simple, you're most likely better off outsourcing this to someone. A fabrication shop should either be able to do all of this for you, or suggest someone who can help you out.

author: Kohanbash
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2014, 12:29:47 am
content: Google Sketchup is good and free. In the professional world Solidworks or Autodesk is often used.When you draw the parts remember that you should be able to both draw the 3D drawing and then create a 2D drawing of each part that needs to be manufactured (can skethcup do this??).If you use a manufacturer that you can work with they can often figure out (or ask you) about how to build and tolerance your parts. If you use a generic contract manufacturer (for example mfg.com) then you will need to have all of your tolerances and drawings correct and complete.

author: daedalus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2014, 11:32:14 pm
content: sketchup is pretty basic, its not designed for engineering drawings. If its a one off job, then get some paper and a ruler, and draw out a good set of drawings for each face, and a sketch explaining how they go together. Hand this to your manufacturer, then pay them for a couple of hrs work and get them to model it in cad. Any half decent cad package costs lots of money, and takes time to learn.As an engineer I would always prefer a good concept sketch to badly modelled cad files from a novice. Also if your manufacturer is worth their salt they will probably suggest improvements as they are doing this, where as if you send finished cad files the temptation is to make the parts "as-is", even if they can be made cheaper with a small tweak.If you want to sell this, its also probably worth getting at least a few hours consultancy from a mechanical engineer, to go through the whole design (not just the chassis), and advise you how to make it in a cost effective way.EDIT: one other option that might suit you better, is if you can sketch your sheet metal faces in your electronics package, and export a dxf that is easy enough to import into 3d cad

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2014, 12:05:10 am
content: You absolutely need Catia ! That is one kick-ass CAD program.

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2014, 02:30:53 pm
content: Solidworks is the best of all and also the easiest as far as I know. However, If you don't want to buy it nor use it, you can use Autodesk 123D Design. It is a free software that is the low end version of Inventor... Autodesk made it to be good and free alternative I guess.