Onshape
Set up a document, choose units, and learn the difference between sketches, parts, and assemblies.
Onshape is a tool that runs in a web browser. Your design lives in a document that teammates can share. You do not need to email a new model file after every edit.
Account and units
Use Onshape's education registration and robotics resources to check the account options available to your team. Each student should use their own account. Invite teammates to a shared document rather than sharing a password.
On the documents page, choose Create → and name it Practice plate assembly. Open the document menu beside the Onshape logo, choose Workspace units, and set length to Millimeter. Accept the settings. You can still enter an explicit value such as 1 in in a ; Onshape converts it to the document's display units.
An imported component should match its real size. Measure one known distance, such as a wheel diameter, before building around it.
What is in a document?
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Document | A project file that holds the design and can be shared with teammates |
| A tab where you make the shapes of one or more parts | |
| A flat drawing used to define geometry | |
| Feature | A modeling operation, such as adding thickness or cutting a hole |
| Part | A solid object, such as one bracket |
| A tab where you position parts and define how they move | |
| Drawing | A sheet with views, dimensions, and manufacturing notes |
A Part Studio can contain several related parts. That does not join them physically. The Assembly describes how the separate components fit together.
Find your way around
The feature list records how a Part Studio was built. Tabs at the bottom switch between Part Studios, Assemblies, and drawings. The view cube changes the direction you are looking from.
Practice rotating, panning, and zooming before drawing. Mouse and trackpad controls depend on your selected navigation settings; use the controls listed in Onshape's help for your setup. Zoom to fit brings the model back into view. Selecting a and using Normal to gives a straight-on view for sketching.
The is the model's reference point. The default planes are flat references through that point. Choose a plane deliberately instead of sketching on whichever face happens to be visible.
First document
Prepare the tabs for the next three lessons:
- Open the first Part Studio and rename its tab
Plate. To rename a tab, right-click its name and choose Rename. - Find the Top, Front, and Right reference planes in the feature list. Select Top and use Normal to to look straight at it.
- Find the origin where the reference axes meet. The next lesson will center the plate here.
- Keep the Assembly tab for later. If the document does not have one, use the + menu at the bottom left to create an Assembly. Rename it
Practice assembly. - Return to the
PlatePart Studio.
Stop here with an empty Part Studio. The next page creates its sketch; the following page adds thickness. There should be no solid part yet.
The same document will eventually contain:
| Tab | What you will put there |
|---|---|
| Plate | One 70 × 40 × 3 mm plate with two holes |
| Spacer | One 12 mm-long spacer, used twice |
| Practice assembly | Two instances of Plate and two of Spacer |
| Plate drawing | Views and dimensions of the plate |
You will create the Spacer and drawing tabs when you reach those lessons.
Saving and sharing
Onshape records edits in its history. A saves a named point in that history, such as the design you sent for cutting. You can keep editing the workspace without changing that saved version.
Share the document with a teammate using Share and their account address. Give editing access only to people who should change it. Ask them to find the Plate tab and its units. Keep working in the same document; you will create a named version after completing the assembly.
Continue with Sketches.