What FRCDesignLib is
FRCDesignLib is a large, free, community-maintained library of FRC COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) parts built natively for Onshape. You access it through the FRCDesignApp, a free Onshape app, and it is maintained by the FRCDesign.org community. It puts thousands of real FRC parts a couple of clicks away inside your CAD.
A note on MKCad: older guides may point you to MKCad (an earlier Onshape FRC library from Team 1836, The MilkenKnights). MKCad is no longer the community standard and is effectively unmaintained — use FRCDesignLib instead for any new work.
What it contains
FRCDesignLib aims to include the COTS parts teams actually put on a competition robot, drawn from vendors like VEXpro/VEX Robotics, WCP, AndyMark, REV Robotics, and McMaster-Carr. Categories include:
- Bearings
- Electronics (simplified and full-detail models)
- Fasteners
- COTS gearboxes
- Gears, hubs, pulleys, and sprockets
- Motors and sensors
- Snap rings, shaft collars, and standard spacers
- Wheels and structural extrusion
Because the parts are native to Onshape, each already carries the correct name, color, and mass — so your assembly BOM is auto-populated with sensible names and your weight estimate is meaningful.
How to set it up
- Install the FRCDesignApp from the Onshape App Store (free). It adds a searchable in-app browser that inserts FRCDesignLib parts directly into a Part Studio or assembly. See the setup guide on FRCDesign.org's Part Library page.
- Browse the library reference on the FRCDesignLib resource page, which also explains how to contribute new parts.
A mentor or experienced student usually installs the app on the team Onshape account once, after which everyone on the team can use it.
Why this changes your workflow
Without a library, inserting a gearbox means hunting for a STEP file, importing it, and cleaning it up. With a native library you search "NEO" or "MAXPlanetary" and insert the part in seconds with correct mass and naming. That dramatically speeds up assembly work and keeps your BOM clean.
Cautions and good habits
- Check the part is current. Community libraries can lag a vendor's latest revision — verify critical dimensions against the vendor's own CAD before manufacturing a mating part.
- Insert, do not reinvent. If a part exists in the library, use it rather than modeling your own.
- Keep your design and the library separate. Treat library parts as fixed references; do your custom design in your own Part Studios.
A maintained parts library plus vendor CAD means you spend your time designing the custom parts that make your robot unique — not re-drawing bolts and bearings.
Key takeaways
- FRCDesignLib is a free, Onshape-native FRC COTS parts library maintained by the FRCDesign.org community; it has superseded the older MKCad library from FRC Team 1836 (The MilkenKnights)
- It covers VEXpro, WCP, AndyMark, and McMaster parts — bearings, fasteners, gearboxes, gears, motors, wheels, and more — with correct names, colors, and masses
- It is accessed through the free FRCDesignApp in the Onshape App Store; a mentor installs it once for the whole team
- Using a library keeps BOMs clean and weight estimates meaningful, but always verify currency of critical dimensions before manufacturing
Keep going
Take the quiz · +10 XP with an accountMore in Vendor Libraries (FRCDesignLib) and FeatureScripts
Sources & corrections
This lesson is AI-assisted: drafted from primary sources, then reviewed and edited by hand. Errors still get through. When one is reported we fix it and write down what changed — publicly, in the corrections log.
Sources and further reading
- Introducing MKCad (Chief Delphi, Team 1836) — original announcementchiefdelphi.com
- FRCDesignLib — current community Onshape FRC parts library (FRCDesign.org)frcdesign.org
- Setting up the FRCDesignApp / Part Library (FRCDesign.org)frcdesign.org
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Lesson quiz
RequiredAll 3 right completes the lesson. Miss one and only that question comes back — anything you already answered correctly stays banked.
0 of 3 answered
01.What is FRCDesignLib?
02.Because FRCDesignLib parts are native to Onshape rather than imported geometry, what already comes set correctly when you insert one?
03.Older guides point to MKCad (Team 1836's earlier Onshape FRC library). What is true about MKCad today?
Answer every question to submit.
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