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South Africa
Asked — Edited

3D Designing

Hi guys I was looking at a few of the threads and I found a lot of 3d designs so I was wondering what designing program is cheap and good for designing robots


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United Kingdom
#1  
AutoDesk 123D is free and works very well. I use it alongside the more expensive AutoDesk products (Inventor & AutoCAD).

SketchUp is also free and works well.

Depending on budget though you may want to look at Solidworks (supposed to be the best for 3D design, I've yet to try it), 3D Studio Max, AutoCAD (full version not LT).
South Africa
#2  
After I made this thread I went on solid works to see if it is nice but there are many different programs and I do not know which one to use
United Kingdom
#3  
If you have never done any 3D work before start with AutoDesk 123D, get a feel for what you need to do. Once you need to refine your designs, add details etc. then opt for something better.
#4  
I use AutoCAD 123D design. they have multiple software for 3d design though.
#5  
Openscad can also be useful for 3d modeling. It uses a parametric model. Using it is more like programming. It allows importing if meshes (stl) and dxf files for 3d extruding. I have found it useful for modifying existing stl mesh files or using stls to modify my own designs. It is a bit awkward to use, but it is free. If you like GUIs it is not what you are looking for.
South Africa
#6  
i just downloaded 123D design i will see how it goes and let you know
South Africa
#7  
I just remembered watching a video of nick and jermie they were designing something to replace the Bluetooth module I will try and get a link
South Africa
#8  


Does anyone know what program he might have used to help jermie design the module that was suppose to connect to the arduino
PRO
Canada
#9  
Unfortunately that project got pushed to the back burner, but as for what we used to do the PCB design in-house, we use Altium.

For 3D designs we use Solidworks.
United Kingdom
#10  
If you are looking for alternatives to Altium (for whatever reason) there are some other packages out there such as Eagle. There is also the free software Express PCB which is what I use however my use isn't exactly high, it's more like tinkering with circuits and making small PCBs for mounting in my robots as an alternative to having protoboard or even components soldered to wires just flapping about in the robot.
South Africa
#11  
Thanks jermie but when I went on solidworks I clicked on electrical design and it gave me 3 options which one do you guys use

Mohamed
PRO
Canada
#12  
Hi @Mohamed

We don't use Solidworks for electronic side. I think some people use Circuit Works for electronic design but we don't have any experience with it ourselves.
Ireland
#13  
Hi @Mohamed.r

As Jeremie explained we only use Solidworks for our 3D CAD Design.
The Solidworks Electrical suit is relatively new and unpopular (for now). Next to Siemens, Solidworks has one of the most confusing web sites in industry.

So to help explain how the "three options" work:

Solidworks Electrical is a suit.
In that suit you can get different packages.


Package 1: SolidWorks Electrical Schematic

This is for making circuit design. This would be comparable to Altium.


Package 2: SolidWorks Electrical 3D

This is not for creating electrical circuits but more for incorporating a circuit into a 3D design/model.


Package 3: SolidWorks Electrical Professional

Simply combines both packages 1 and 2
South Africa
#14  
Thanks that's a lot easier to understand but now I want to use it for 3d CAD design which program do you use
Ps I do not want something to expensive
Ireland
#15  
We use SolidWorks for our 3D CAD design. Unless you are eligible for the student version it is very expensive $5000-$8000 (USD). The student version is only about $150 which is mostly to cover administration costs.

Check out this Wikipedia page it has a list of virtually every 3D CAD software out there.

Comparison of 3D computer graphics software
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