3946W Make it Real CAD Challenge
jbarakat20
Entry ID #: 3159
Created: Mon, Jan 9, 2017 6:36 PM
What is the part? The part our team designed is an aluminum 1x3x1x35 c-channel dedicated for implementing and using high strength shafts through the metal. We drilled holes capable of fitting high strength shafts and high strength bearing flats in the c-channel. It will reduce the hassle of having to drill holes out of every piece of metal we use with high strength shafts. Each high strength hole is spaced apart by two other holes which will allow space for any high strength bearing flats to vertically line the entirety of the metal. Why do we need it?/How would we use it? This design will assist our robot in pivots that receive high amounts of stress, much like shafts that supports our lift subsystem. Seeing as multiple areas receive high amounts of stress on a robot, a part that interfaces with high strength shafts would be extremely helpful to have. How did we make it? We utilized Autodesk Inventor to create the design, more specifically, Autodesk Inventor Professional 2016 - Student Version. This software allowed us to easily and efficiently create the CAD for our design. We created circles around the desired holes that gave just enough space for a shaft, allowing optimal turning face for a shaft. Afterwards, we extruded the circles from the metal in order to get the holes. Conclusion We learned that Autodesk Inventor is a very helpful tool and has many different uses. Not only can we use this tool to construct VEX parts into assemblies, but we can also modify and change parts for our own use, and even fabricate our own parts. Our team uses Autodesk Inventor to lay out our robot design. Our team creates CAD before we build so we can get a basic idea of what our robot will look like, and build off of that. This process allows us to catch any potential errors that could occur before our robot is even built. In the future, we will continue to use software like Inventor to design robots on the team, but hopefully past that and into our careers. Everyone on our team is looking to go into STEM related jobs so Inventor offers several valuable skills for our future careers.
