Check out this Map of NYU ITP local resources
3D modeling (with feedback)
- Alibre Design Personal (Windows only) The only budget friendly CAD software I know of that is not a demo or educational license, and can handle 3D assemblies of parts and 2D drawings. It's free for 30 days then costs just $99 for the personal license.
Worth mentioning...
- blender (Windows and Mac) Steep learning curve and more suited to animation and character modeling than machine design. Open source software is promising but not very useful for machine design.
- Rhino has a demo version for Windows that will save 25 times and version for Mac OSX that is free during development. You can use the Rhino Assembly plugin to make assemblies of multiple parts if you're using the Windows version. Generally intuitive to learn, easy to model basic shapes. Very capable for part design, but no plug in for assemblies in the Mac version.
- Google Sketchup (Windows or Mac) Good for 2D and 3D part and assembly design. Check here for tutorial on accurate design. This plugin makes adding dimensions easier. Use the plugin here or the su2stl.rb plugin here to convert the models to .stl for 3D printing. Very quick to learn and useful to visualize concepts.
- OhYeahCAD Free sketchup downloads, gear plugin
- Art of Illusion (Windows and Mac) Free, open source 3D modeling and rendering studio. Decent as open source software goes, but clumsy for machine design. Very basic program, not easy to model anything but the simplest shapes.
- eMachineShop Free software, new export to .stl function (Windows only)
General Materials
Material Properties
- matweb Go here when you need technical info like melting temp or yield strength
Mechanism ideas
General Info
Parts and Tools - general mechanical
LOCAL:
ONLINE:
Parts - general electrical
General Robotics Supplies
Gears
Motors
- Solarbotics
- Tom's motor resources
- Allelectronics
- Electronic Goldmine
- Surplus Center might take some browsing, but you can find all kinds of motors here
- American Science Surplus you can find some motors here among many, many other interesting things
- Robot Marketplace motors
- Portescap
- Edmund Scientific: Motors & Gears
- "Real" and Hobby motors, controllers, general info
- Hitec - RC servos and accessories
- Servo City they also have great accessories, like this aluminum hub They make their own parts. Allow at least a week for your order to ship if it is a gear, sprocket or aluminum hub.
- specAmotor - Motor search engine
- Tom's RC - Servo Motor and gears(Very Cheap)
- Tower Hobbies - Servo's, Gears, Motors, Steam Engines, and nuts and bolts -All kinds of hobby parts
- Skycraft Parts & Surplus Inc. - Wide range of Gearhead motors
Motor control/chips
Kinematic Models and Automatons
Bearings
Springs
Rotary to linear motion
Fluid mechanics