Complete Onshape assembly course

Learn to build, control, evaluate, and document Onshape assemblies using mates, sub-assemblies, standard content, exploded views, BOMs, and practical mechanism projects.

About this courseThis course teaches the complete workflow for creating and managing assemblies in Onshape, starting from the basic structure of an assembly workspace and progressing into practical tools used in real mechanical design.Learners begin by understanding how assemblies are organised, how components are inserted, positioned, and moved, and how the triad manipulator helps control placement during the early setup stage. From there, the course moves into mates and motion, where learners explore how different mate relationships define component behaviour, how mate connectors are created and used, and how offset and limit conditions can be applied to control movement more accurately.The course then introduces assembly tools that support real-world design work, including standard hardware insertion, editing parts in context, and building assemblies with proper design intent. Learners also work with sub-assemblies and nested assembly structures, helping them understand how to keep larger designs organised, manageable, and easier to update.In the output stage, learners learn how to prepare exploded views, generate a bill of materials, and evaluate assemblies for design issues. The course concludes with practical mechanism-based projects such as pin and wheel assemblies, brace assemblies, scissor jack assemblies, sliders, universal joints, and trailer hitch mechanisms. By the end, learners should be able to create functional assemblies, test motion, organise complex structures, and prepare assembly outputs suitable for review, documentation, or downstream design work.Who should take this courseThis course is suitable for learners who already understand basic part modeling in Onshape and want to move into assembly design. It is ideal for CAD beginners, mechanical design students, engineers, product designers, and makers who need to combine individual parts into working mechanical systems.It is especially useful for anyone who wants to understand how components interact, how motion is controlled through mates, how assemblies are organised using sub-assemblies, and how outputs such as exploded views and BOMs are created for documentation.Pre-requisitesLearners should have basic familiarity with Onshape navigation and part modeling before starting this course. They should know how to create simple parts, use sketches and features, and manage documents inside Onshape.No advanced assembly experience is required. A free or paid Onshape account is needed to follow along with the lessons and complete the practice projects.