Beginner5-day build

Tabletop Tank Bot

Your first robot, designed and built from scratch.

Over five days you'll design a tracked two-motor robot in Onshape using our channel-and-bracket system, wire up its electronics, and write the code to drive it. No prior experience needed — this is the on-ramp to everything else.

day streak

Mechanical Design & CADElectronics & WiringFirmware & Code

U-ChannelL-BracketsFlat GussetsMotor Hubs12V GearmotorsDual Motor Driver

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Understand what you're building
The Tank Bot is a simple, sturdy robot: two channels for a frame, a gearmotor driving a track on each side, and a battery and driver in the middle. Because the two sides drive independently, it steers like a tank — both forward to go straight, one side to turn. Picture the finished robot before you start; it makes every step make sense.
Create a free Onshape account
Onshape is a professional CAD tool that runs entirely in your browser, so there's nothing to install and your work saves automatically in the cloud. Sign up for the free Maker plan at onshape.com. Spend ten minutes in their 'Primer' tutorial to learn the interface — sketching, extruding, and the Pan/Rotate/Zoom controls — before you build anything real.
Import the ProtoHouse part library
Add our public parts document to your account so you can drag in channels, brackets, hubs, and motors instead of modeling them. Every part shares a 16mm on-center hole pattern — a consistent grid that lets any bracket bolt to any channel. Learning to lean on a library like this is exactly how real engineers work: you design the robot, not the screws.
Learn the channel grid
Open a U-Channel and look at its hole pattern. Those holes are your coordinate system: everything lands on the 16mm grid so parts always line up. The golden rule in Onshape: mate parts using their holes (mate connectors), never by eyeballing faces. Do that and your assembly stays correct even when you change a dimension later.

Tabletop Tank Bot

Day 1 — Plan and set up Onshape

Understand what you're building

Create a free Onshape account

Import the ProtoHouse part library

Learn the channel grid

Day 2 — Design the chassis

Day 3 — Add the drivetrain

Day 4 — Electronics and wiring

Day 5 — Code it and drive