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K
KenSnodgrass1-Visitor
1-Visitor
August 14, 2010
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ProEngineer Instructional Tips

  • August 14, 2010
  • 1 reply
  • 6902 views

I'm one of the co-founders of FIRST@MIchigan Engineering Zone - a collaborative facility where 12 Detroit Public high school FRC teams built and tested their robots last year. This season we intend to have FIRST@MEZ teams use ProEngineer to design their robots. I'm looking for tips and advice on how to best use PTC and other materials to train our teams in the use of ProEngineer. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

PS- I'd be happy to share info about the MEZ - what it is, how it was established, accomplishments, etc.

    Best answer by JoshH

    PTC workshops are certainly the right way to get started! After writing several training courses as part of my normal job as well as for mentoring FIRST teams, I have to say that I'm really impressed with PTC's curriculum.

    I'm working on a new model for training local teams. Since I'm about the only one doing Pro/Engineer training for local teams, I have to be more efficient.

    I currently have one student that holds CAD training sessions over the summer using the PTC curriculum. They spend a couple hours a week going over the curriculum as well as setting up new CAD team members. The goal is to have a CAD leader for each school who will run the training. I support those training sessions answering any questions as well as providing additional training for those who are more advanced.

    1. As far as supplemental training, I've always found that the best training is to start doing real work and have a good support network for questions. Often I will challenge students by asking them to do things like edit references to move a feature to a different location. If it's a part that moves, I'll have them create a mechanism that moves the way it should.

    2. I try to make sure new students start off with instructor-led courses, at least several initial hours. It's too easy for them to get frustrated at the beginning and quit.

    3. I've been fortunate in having some really talented students and I don't think I've really had much problem with visualization...except when it comes to sketching. I usually have students do some 3-D sketching for practice. It's really a necessary part of design and they need to know how to communicate with their teammates without running to Pro/E.

    4. Ratio of students to teacher/mentors related to success is a difficult one. I've had groups of 20 where maybe 5 students really participated. I've had groups of 6 where 5 students participated. Almost every season, I end up with 3-5 students who design the robot in Pro/E.

    Perhaps the #1 thing I've learned is that the training really has to be more than an hour to be effective. I would prefer to do an 4 or 8 hour training and then perhaps meet weekly to answer questions.

    Finally...thankyou for your questions! I am really hopeful that the entire group interacts, comparing notes and learning from each other. If you have more questions, please ask. Please share your experiences as well.

    Thanks and look forward to hearing from you again.

    Josh

    1 reply

    J
    JoshH1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    August 15, 2010

    Hi Ken,

    FIRST@MEZ sounds awesome! I would love to hear more about it! Would love to see pictures of the facility, information about how funding was obtained, etc.

    With that many teams, I would be talking to PTC as soon as possible. See the FIRST Mentors group for contact information, or go to http://ptc.com/go/frc. As far as CAD goes, I would find a CAD lead for each team and have them put together a group of those students that are most interested and have them download software and get a ProjectLink project started. They should be proficient in Pro/Engineer long before the actual competition starts.

    Please feel free to start a discussion in the FIRST mentors group, there are plenty of others besides me who have experience and I'd really like to share as much information as possible...I pick up new tips all the time!

    Thanks and hope to hear from you soon.

    Josh

    K
    KenSnodgrass1-VisitorAuthor
    1-Visitor
    August 16, 2010

    Josh - Thanks for your response. We have had termendous support from PTC and have 8 stations loaded with Pro Engineer and have started a pilot training program based on the PTC Hands on Workshop earlier this summer. I'll try to be a little more specific about my questions:

    1. Are teams using the PTC Hands on Workshop material as the basis for training? Have they found any other training material to supplement it?

    2. Are teams training students in a instructor/student lecture format or are students using the material on their own in a self-directed format?

    3. Some of our students have difficultly visualizing parts and relating the phsyical characteristics of a part to a drawing - for example, relating dimensions on a drawing to the actual size of a part. Have mentors found a way to help students make this connection?

    4. What ratio of students to teacher/mentors is needed to have a successful training session?

    Thanks for your help!

    Ken

    J
    JoshH1-VisitorAnswer
    1-Visitor
    August 16, 2010

    PTC workshops are certainly the right way to get started! After writing several training courses as part of my normal job as well as for mentoring FIRST teams, I have to say that I'm really impressed with PTC's curriculum.

    I'm working on a new model for training local teams. Since I'm about the only one doing Pro/Engineer training for local teams, I have to be more efficient.

    I currently have one student that holds CAD training sessions over the summer using the PTC curriculum. They spend a couple hours a week going over the curriculum as well as setting up new CAD team members. The goal is to have a CAD leader for each school who will run the training. I support those training sessions answering any questions as well as providing additional training for those who are more advanced.

    1. As far as supplemental training, I've always found that the best training is to start doing real work and have a good support network for questions. Often I will challenge students by asking them to do things like edit references to move a feature to a different location. If it's a part that moves, I'll have them create a mechanism that moves the way it should.

    2. I try to make sure new students start off with instructor-led courses, at least several initial hours. It's too easy for them to get frustrated at the beginning and quit.

    3. I've been fortunate in having some really talented students and I don't think I've really had much problem with visualization...except when it comes to sketching. I usually have students do some 3-D sketching for practice. It's really a necessary part of design and they need to know how to communicate with their teammates without running to Pro/E.

    4. Ratio of students to teacher/mentors related to success is a difficult one. I've had groups of 20 where maybe 5 students really participated. I've had groups of 6 where 5 students participated. Almost every season, I end up with 3-5 students who design the robot in Pro/E.

    Perhaps the #1 thing I've learned is that the training really has to be more than an hour to be effective. I would prefer to do an 4 or 8 hour training and then perhaps meet weekly to answer questions.

    Finally...thankyou for your questions! I am really hopeful that the entire group interacts, comparing notes and learning from each other. If you have more questions, please ask. Please share your experiences as well.

    Thanks and look forward to hearing from you again.

    Josh

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