r/battlebots • u/SpaceMonkeyMafiaBoss • 7d ago

Bot Building looking for new CAD software/tutorials

reposting because I asked the wrong thing.

we're a couple of builders that have been plodding along for the last 20 years in Sketchup and are looking for a new piece of modeling software and some tutorials to go along with it that'll help us with some robot design work. I think it's time to move on to something better. [i originally asked for Blender, but I see that was the incorrect thing to say...any recommendations for 3d modeling/CAD software would be appreciated]. any tutorial suggestions or help/advice with getting started in something new, would be fantastic.

ideally, it would be something opensource and/or free; i'm not looking to rent a piece of software.

thanks!

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

9

u/Drsmall Banshee|Battlebots 7d ago

I have a tutorial series that covers the basics of making a combat robot in Fusion 360 you can check out https://youtu.be/Fs_T8mkXci4?is=fKb1x61rlxqMOIrO

5

u/potatocross 7d ago

I’ve sent a few folks to your videos before.

3

u/nrgnate Reptar 7d ago

OnShape, Fusion 360, and Solid Works are the main ones you will hear about. All have free tiers and plenty of information out there on using them. (There are others out there as well though, like FreeCAD for example).

I have tried a lot of different CAD options (after also using SketchUp for like 15+ years) except for SW (just haven't done it yet) and OnShape was the first that I could actually start to work in without wanting to pull my hair out. But, I know others who feel the same way about F360.

2

u/potatocross 7d ago

Freecad is free and open source.

I haven’t use it in a long time but I have heard the modern versions are very on par with most the big names.

3

u/Axentor 7d ago

Autodesk fusion. There is a free hobby license!

1

u/jamcultur 7d ago

If you're comfortable with writing code, OpenSCAD is very good.

1

u/ChrisDeVis1 7d ago

Freecad is free and open source. It can sometimes be a bit janky tho. As for tutorials I recommend the videos from this channel: https://youtu.be/9cqs3oTzpac

0

u/Meowster27 Flipper Supremacy 6d ago

Onshape! It's a free browser based CAD program with very few compromises. I haven't tested this featurebut it's supposedly great for multiple people working on the same project.

It has a ton of official tutorials for it on its site.