CAD Releases
This document will discuss the details regarding CAD Releases, and the various reasons why it is important to use the official open source Input-Inc. CAD releases.
It will also discuss why using CAD software other than SolidWorks (or SolidWorks for Makers) results in the loss of information and/or part details, causing issues for builders.
Specific examples will be used as appropriate.
The Input-Inc. CAD releases are always open source in native SolidWorks file formats, and released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Here are the benefits to you of using the official CAD releases from Input-Inc.:
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Accuracy: you will have access to the most recently released native SolidWorks files, making sure your robot build is using the most recent design improvements. Over the years, the Input-Inc. team has had first-hand access to several screen-used robots, ensuring that our CAD is as accurate as possible to the original source material.
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Cost: The Input-Inc. team is very cost-conscious. Many design improvements have been made to eliminate or reduce costly materials or machining operations, making it easier to build your robot at home. Recently, several parts that previously required welding were able to be completely reworked so that the need for welding was eliminated!
- Official Input-Inc. CAD releases include an ever-growing list of pre-exported 2D files, ready for immediate upload to cost-effective online metal cutting / bending services such as SendCutSend
- Input-Inc. team members are working diligently to provide additional drawings and documentation to make it easier to build your robot.
- and, if you are a Patreon member, you will enjoy access to various Discord channels (dependent on your Patreon member tier) to get assistance with your build. This is a great benefit to helping you avoid mistakes.
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Compatibility: Every attempt is made to make sure that previous iterations of a sub-assembly are not obsoleted just because a design improvement is made. However, the same cannot be said for derivative works or files released by other people. Please see the warning below.
NOTE: Any other CAD file releases that you may find on the Internet for this robot are NOT provided by Input-Inc. and should be considered as older, non-authorized derivative works. This is especially true for file sets converted to other formats for use with other CAD programs. They are not from Input-Inc., are likely not up-to-date, and are not supported by us! Use at your own risk!
Some older versions of the Input-Inc. CAD releases included a '3D Printable Parts' folder with pre-exported STL files. That folder has been deprecated, should NOT be used, and the STL files contained within are very likely out of date!
Do NOT use any pre-exported STL files. Always export the files (to either STEP or STL) yourself! See oue Wiki document for instructions on how to do this easily!
Input-Inc. releases a new official CAD version approximately every quarter (4 times per year). The official Input-Inc. CAD releases are the ONLY actively maintained & updated open source CAD files for this famous movie robot.
Patrons at the Builder and Pro Builder tiers have access to the most-recent CAD release 1 quarter before it is made available to the Public. Membership through Patreon helps support all of the work that Input-Inc. does.
(And, Patreons receive discounts on part runs too!)****
Consider becoming a Builder or Pro Builder at the (Input-Inc. Patreon).
The free Public Release CAD files are available in the OpenSaint project repository of the Input-Inc. Github. These public files are 1 Quarter older than the Patreon member releases as mentioned above.
An annual subscription for 3DExperience SolidWorks for Makers, as of January 2024, is only $48/year. To effectively spend just $4/month for SolidWorks for Makers is an incredibly small investment given the benefits provided by using the native SolidWorks CAD files (as discussed below).
The Input-Inc. CAD design team works exclusively in SolidWorks. As such, it is important that you use the native SolidWorks files as they are, and not trust a conversion to other CAD packages.
See the Installing 3dExperience SolidWorks for Makers Wiki article for help in installing SolidWorks for Makers.
This section will describe the important features or data that will be lost if you use other CAD packages such as Fusion 360 or eDrawings, and provide several examples to illustrate the issues.
*NOTE: Again, all official Input-Inc. CAD releases are always in native SolidWorks file formats. Any CAD files that you may happen to find on the Internet in other CAD formats are NOT original Input-Inc. works, and as such the Input-Inc. Team cannot provide support for those designs! They are very likely derivative works that are out of date compared to the maintained Input-Inc. CAD designs.
If not using SolidWorks for Makers, and you are instead using another CAD program to open the Input-Inc. CAD release files, it is highly likely that you will encounter problems such as:
- Cannot update an Assembly to automatically show changes to Parts and Sub-Assemblies.
- Cannot see/select various Configurations of an Assembly.
this is a critical issue, see examples below! - Material designations are lost.
- Fastener information is lost.
- Loss of Mcmaster-Carr and other 3rd party part number information for off-the-shelf components.
- Tapped hole size & pitch are lost.
- No part properties.
- May not be able to export to a STEP file for 3D Printing
(see the Exporting a Part for 3D Printing Wiki article as to why STEP is superior to STL) - Cannot set STL detail level if exporting to STL.
Configurations are modifiers of an assembly or part, used to either show:
- an alternate build path, or
- the left vs. right versions of a part, or
- the stock vs. modified design of a purchased part, or
- being able to disable Speedpak so that parts in an assembly can be selected / viewed.
Losing the ability to see that Configurations exist, and toggle from one Configuration to another, is a huge disadvantage that should be avoided at all costs. Here are a few examples of why losing the ability to view and use Configurations in SolidWorks for Makers will significantly impede your robot build.
Left vs. Right versions of a part: Take a look at [TUPR-B-A-V2-COMN-00] Hug Housing.SLDPRT, which opens by default in the "left" configuration as shown:
You can see that the part is 2.875" long.
If you lose the ability to use Configurations, you will not be aware that the "right" version of the part exists and is, among other changes, a different size (2.75" long).
Stock vs. Modified version of a part: Most of the time, an off-the-shelf part that must be modified will include both a "modified" and "stock" configuration. This is so that you can compare the two, to see what operations must be done to appropriately modify the part. One such example can be seen in a bolt used in the Caster assembly. The bolt part file is [HDWR-FSTR-SCRW] Hex Bolt 1 ̸ 2-13 x 11.SLDPRT.
The part will open in the "modified" configuration, which looks like this:
With access to Configurations, you can select the "stock" configuration of the part, which looks like this:
By comparing and measuring the differences between the two configurations, you can see exactly how to modify the purchased part with no guess work required.
Disabling Speedpak Speedpak is a SolidWorks feature that allows a sub-assembly to be included in a larger assembly using simulated geometry. This greatly reduces your computer workload when opening large assemblies, but prevents you from interrogating the details of that assembly. In fact, if an assembly is stored in the Speedpak configuration, the various parts of the sub-assembly may not even be listed or selectable.
Lets take a look at the Caster assembly, [CSTR] Caster.SLDASM. If it is opened in the default (speedpak) configuration, none of the component parts are listed or selectable:
However, with access to SolidWork's Configurations, we can select the Configuration that disables Speedpak. The sub-assemblies and parts of this assembly are then shown in the tree and can therefore be selected, measured, opened, exported, etc.:
Many other CAD programs (especially if using unofficial CAD files exported from SolidWorks for use in other CAD programs) will not be able to show Part Property data.
Here is one simple example of why that it is a critical feature
Without the part property data, you may be lead to believe that this part needs to be custom-made... when it is actually intended to be purchased from McMaster-Carr (part #94455A429) for just a few dollars!
If you discover an issue with a part or assembly in a CAD release, please let us know!
There are several ways you can report an issue:
- (Preferred) Submit a new issue on Github (you must have a free Github account to do this)
- Report the issue as a post to the Discord /#cad channel
- Report the issue as a post to the Patreon
When making an issue report, please provide the following information:
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The SolidWorks version you are using
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CAD release version (i.e., Patreon May 2024 release, or Public February 2024 release, etc.)
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The full file and/or assembly name that has the issue.
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A detailed description of the issue
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Screenshots or photos if possible