Chapter 4: Getting Started - VEX CAD Tutorial

Starting with the Drivetrain

A typical VEX V5 tank drivetrain

Most teams start their robot design with the drivetrain. The drivetrain is the most important part of your robot — without it, your scoring mechanisms aren't going anywhere!

The most common drivetrain type is a tank drive with omni wheels. This design is simple to build, provides good traction, turns smoothly, and is great for both beginners and experienced builders.

        This tutorial will guide you through assembling a 4-inch omni wheel tank drivetrain.
      

Standard Parts — Why Still Model Them?

Even though VEX parts are all standardized, modeling them in CAD is still valuable:

Team communication — Make it clear to everyone where each bolt, bearing, and standoff goes
Design reference — The drivetrain model serves as the foundation for building scoring mechanisms later
Verification — Calculate weight and dimensions in advance to avoid exceeding size limits

Adding the VEX V5 Parts Library

Search for the official parts library on the Documents home page

The VEX V5 parts library contains 14 Onshape documents covering all VEX V5 parts. You need to add them to your account first:

Open the Onshape Documents home page
Switch the search box to Public search mode
Search for "Official VEX V5 Library"
Select all 14 documents
Click Create Label and name it "VEX V5 Parts"

Animation: Searching for and adding the VEX V5 parts library to your account

Label the parts library for easy access later

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Checkpoint 1: Did you add the VEX V5 parts library label?

On the Documents home page, click the "VEX V5 Parts" label you just created — you should see 14 documents.

Copy the Tutorial Document

After copying the document, you can freely edit it

Next, copy the tutorial's companion document to your own account. While you'll start from blank documents for your own designs in the future, this copy will save you a lot of time for now.

Animation: Copying the tutorial document to your own account

Open Tutorial Document

Click to open the Onshape tutorial document in a new tab, then copy it to your own account

Working with Multiple Tabs

Right-click a tab → Open in new tab for easy reference

During assembly, you'll need to view both the completed reference model and your own workspace. We recommend using multiple tabs:

Right-click the Complete Drivetrain tab at the bottom of the document
Select "Open in new tab"
Split the two tabs side by side — one for reference, one for your workspace

Collaboration Icons

When multiple people edit simultaneously, you'll see their avatars

Onshape supports real-time multi-user collaboration. When other team members are editing the same document at the same time, you'll see their avatar icons in the interface. This is one of Onshape's greatest advantages — everyone can work simultaneously without interfering with each other.

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Checkpoint 2: Did you copy the document and set up multiple tabs?

Confirm that your Onshape account has a copy of the tutorial document, and you've split the screen with multiple tabs.

        What You Learned in This Chapter
        The VEX V5 parts library has 14 documents — manage them with labels
Copy the tutorial document to your own account before working
Multi-tab split-screen makes you more efficient

      