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SolidWorks for FIRST TECH CHALLENGE

February 20, 2014 ir. Bas Koomen Cadmes Europe

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1 Inhoud 2 Getting started ................................................................................................................................................................ 3

2.1 SolidWorks ................................................................................................................................................................ 3

2.1.1 SolidWorks for personal use. .......................................................................................................................... 3

2.1.2 SolidWorks FIRST Team Sponsoring ................................................................................................................ 3

2.2 FIRST Part Library ...................................................................................................................................................... 4

3 Using the library .............................................................................................................................................................. 5

4 Feedback ......................................................................................................................................................................... 6

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2 Getting started

2.1 SolidWorks To get started with SolidWorks in your FTC-team you first need to have SolidWorks. If you can use the educational

version of you school, please get details with the responsible person in your school to get access to it.

2.1.1 SolidWorks for personal use. If you don’t have SolidWorks in school (yet), you can download the SolidWorks Student Design Kit for personal use as a student (not for commercial use or in lessons at school). Browse to www.solidworks.nl to download your personal installation set. A school-ID is mentioned at the SDK download page. On this website you can also find very helpful turorials (in Dutch) to get started with SolidWorks for part and assembly design. If you cannot read Dutch, the built-in tutorials are good alternatives.

2.1.2 SolidWorks FIRST Team Sponsoring Once registered to any FIRST competition, you can apply for a SolidWorks sponsorship package at www.solidworks.com/FIRST. With this option, you and your team can work with even more professional capabilities of SolidWorks Mechanical CAD, Electrical CAD and Testing software during your FTC project.

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2.2 FIRST Part Library To design for FTC you will start using components of Matrix Robotics or Tetrix. We started to create a library for Matrix Robotics. If there is enough interest, a Tetrix library may follow. Also the library contains some NXT and LEGO Technic components. To install the library follow the steps below:

You can download a ZIP file containing this library at http://1drv.ms/1cpTvxF. (This share also contains a sample

assembly built with these components.)

If you have downloaded the library, you have to look on you PC where the SolidWorks design library is located. By default this is in C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks\design library\.

Create a folder “FIRST” (C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks\design library\FIRST)

Unzip the content of the Library ZIP file in this new folder. The result should more or less look like the image shown next:

If successful, you should be able to see the library in SolidWorks:

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3 Using the library Using the design library is very easy. You can simply drag components from the library into any assembly (on the background in the 3D graphic area). For some components, a window will pop up to ask for a specific configuration (for example with shafts). In that case you just have to indicate which variant you need.

How to create an assembly, you can learn in one of the tutorials. There you can also learn how to design your own parts that you can include in the FTC design.

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4 Feedback We would be very happy to receive feedback. Do you like using SolidWorks in FTC context? Do you like the library? What parts do you need more in the library? Etc… Please send a mail to FIRST@cadmes.com if you have any feedback or questions. We will get back to you as good as we can. Have FUN!!!