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mytqik
Joined: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 127
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My company owns the Solidworks that I use. The FEA package is approx 15k along with the solidworks licence of about 12k. That does not include updates or tech support. My company also have a number of add ins which come to a total of about 200k!!!!!!! This includes mechanical libraries, gas flow analysis & electrical design software. No wonder the software companies are making so much money.
The difference between Inventer & Solidworks is minimal, bit like the same car with the cigarette lighter in a different spot. They basically do the same thing. I beleive that Solidworks have more add in packages, there by making it a more well rounded package. Any 3d package works well for doing robots, having said that, if you have the skill, you can use a stand alone autocad package to do the 3d, however it is much harder than solidworks, as 3d in autocad is done with wireframes & a UCS, not sketch planes.
The downside with any 3d solid modeller is the computer that it runs on. If you notice that any demonstration is always done with only a few parts. This is because the files sizes get massive very quickly as the number of parts increase & the computer requirements are extreme. My desktop in China was a twin proceesor, 4GB Ram, Twin Raid 1+0 hard drives & I would regularly crash it. I could open a full assembly & go and make a cup of coffee to wait for it to load, as files sizes 50Mb+ are not uncommon.
I haven't used unigraphics, what platform does that run on??
Kkeerroo, email me if you want to chat about solidworks in detail, without boring everyone here.
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Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:07 pm |
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kkeerroo
Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 17 Jun 2004
Posts: 1459
Location: Brisbane
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I'd believe all that.
One thing I'm really hunting down at the moment is some way of converting my SolidWorks part and Assembly files into either STEP or maybe even IGES format so when I do get a 3D CAD program back on my computer I can access all the parts I've already created. Its mainly parts from my standard parts file I want at the moment, where I have models for 12V drills and cordless screw driver motors, RS-540, RS-550 and RS-775 motors, W/W motors of different sizes, batteries, wheels and any other parts that I've used in more then one robot. There are also other parts I want because I lost the bits of paper I scribbled the ideas on, such as the Huntsman shuffle legs, the clamping mechanism I want to add to my claws and even a very rough plan for a perpetual motion machine (it'll work, I'm sure of it). _________________ Get Some!!!
Secretary of the Queensland Robotics Sports Club inc.
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Fri Aug 13, 2004 1:53 pm |
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