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5. Snap-On Bearing Blocks

Why was this part created? Our snap-on bearing block part was created in order to make using axles, motors, and gears more easily.  Bearing blocks commonly lose their screws and become loose constantly, which creates problems during competitions. With this new part, bearing blocks will not have to be periodically tightened and replaced. How will this part be used? This part can be used to replace bearing blocks on VEX robots. The snap-on pins can be moved around or taken out of the holes as needed, such as when motors need to be attached directly onto a bearing block. How was this product created? Autodesk Inventor Professional 2016 was used to create this part. The generic bearing block file was used to create this part, along with snap pins similar to the VEX IQ pins. What was learned from this project? We learned that using Autodesk Inventor is a useful way of improving robot designs and certain VEX parts. We will certainly use Inventor in the future to create our robot and demonstrate parts of our design. Autodesk Inventor helps a lot with brainstorming designs, testing out ideas, and displaying our robot to others. Also, using this software will definitely be useful in future engineering jobs, as it is a very common and useful program.