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Model a desk robot arm: the base

The base is the part everything else stands on. It is round, so it is drawn as half its section and revolved, the quickest way to model anything that turns about an axis. It also gets the arm's first connectors, the named places an assembly attaches parts to.

Each step shows the Designer as you make it: a feature's dialog filled in with the step's values, with the tutorial card ringing OK, or what the step made. The first time a command appears, a picture shows where it is. The step numbers match the card's in Help > Tutorials.

  1. New part, from File > New part: name Base.

    The base is a revolved pedestal: draw half its profile on the XY plane, then revolve it a full turn about its axis. Four counterbored holes go in its ledge, and two connectors mark where the turntable sits and where its screws go.

    Model a desk robot arm: where New part is, ringed in its menu, the tutorial card ringing it on the toolbar too where it has a button
    Model a desk robot arm, step 1: New part made, and what it made selected in the panels

  2. Sketch, from Insert > Sketch: id profile, on the XY plane, start 0, 0.

    Draw half the base's section on the XY plane, outwards from the axis: the floor, a toe with a rounded corner, the ledge the screws go through, a gently curved flank, the collar and the top. The sketch closes back down the axis.

    Model a desk robot arm: where Sketch is, ringed in its menu, the tutorial card ringing it on the toolbar too where it has a button
    Model a desk robot arm, step 2: the Sketch dialog filled in with the step's values, the tutorial card beside it ringing OK

  3. Revolve, from Insert > Revolve: id base, profile profile, angle 360.

    Revolve the section a full turn about the vertical axis. The half section sweeps round into the solid pedestal.

    Model a desk robot arm: where Revolve is, ringed in its menu, the tutorial card ringing it on the toolbar too where it has a button
    Model a desk robot arm, step 3: the Revolve dialog filled in with the step's values, the tutorial card beside it ringing OK

  4. Hole, from Insert > Hole: id mounts, body base, on the side face of base, diameter 5.

    Drill four counterbored holes through the ledge, one on each diagonal, so the screw heads sit below its surface.

    Model a desk robot arm: where Hole is, ringed in its menu, the tutorial card ringing it on the toolbar too where it has a button
    Model a desk robot arm, step 4: the Hole dialog filled in with the step's values, the tutorial card beside it ringing OK

  5. Part properties, from the Properties panel: id base, name Base, material aluminium-6061, color #2a2d31, metallic 0.6, roughness 0.3.

    Name the part Base and give it its material and look: dark anodised aluminium.

    Model a desk robot arm, step 5: Part properties made, and what it made selected in the panels

  6. Add connector, from Insert > Add connector: part base, id top, on the side face of base.

    Add a connector on the top face. It marks where the shoulder sits, and the yaw joint will turn about it.

    Model a desk robot arm: where Add connector is, ringed in its menu, the tutorial card ringing it on the toolbar too where it has a button
    Model a desk robot arm, step 6: Add connector made, and what it made selected in the panels

  7. Add connector, from Insert > Add connector: part base, id bolts, on the side face of base, axis the wall face of mounts.

    Add a connector on the ledge, its axis along the holes' walls. A screw replicated onto it lands in every hole.

    Model a desk robot arm, step 7: Add connector made, and what it made selected in the panels
Model a desk robot arm, after step 7

Verified against the product in October 2026