1. The FTC Engineering Notebook

2. The FTC Engineering Notebook
Outline
What is the FTC Engineering Notebook?
Why is the Engineering Notebook Important?
Rules for the Engineering Notebook
Suggestions for Your Engineering Notebook
Examples from the Team Unlimited Notebooks
Awards and the Engineering Notebook
Our favorite Engineering Notebook supplies
Question?
The FTC Engineering Notebook

3. What is the FTC Engineering Notebook?
An engineering notebook is a living record of your engineering process
Engineers and scientists use them as professional documentation of their efforts
They are recognized as legal documents in the process of applying for a patent when properly witnessed
The FTC Engineering Notebook

4. Why is the Engineering Notebook so important?
Education in proper record keeping
This is how engineers and scientists document their efforts, both in training and employment
Eligibility for Awards
Most of the judged awards require the engineering notebook
Competitiveness
Your engineering notebook represents you to the judging panels when you are not present (including the judges that did not interview you personally)
The FTC Engineering Notebook

5. FTC rules for the Engineering Notebook
Document EVERYTHING!!
Engineering Notebooks should be organized enough to have an outsider understand your team and your journey.
Written entries should be in Permanent Ink – Not Pencil.
Start your notebook by introducing each team member and mentor with a brief biography of their name, age (or school year), interests, and reasons for joining your FIRST Tech Challenge team.
Tip: Pictures along with the bios would serve as a great visual for the judges to get to know each member of your team.
The FTC Engineering Notebook

6. FTC rules for the Engineering Notebook
Start a fresh page at every meeting. Your team number, date, and start/stop times should be recorded when starting a new page. Each day should start with two columns:
Task Column – What your team is doing and discovering?
Reflections Column – Where your team records thoughts on what is happening and any questions that need to be answered.
Entries should be made by every team member, initialed, and dated.
The FTC Engineering Notebook

7. FTC rules for the Engineering Notebook
All designs and changes to your robot should be recorded directly into your notebook. The inclusion of all elaborate details and sketches are preferable. Notes and calculations should be done in your notebook, NOT on loose paper.
Tip: A judging panel is always interested to see a unique design or playing strategy. On the other hand, a design without the substance to support its reasoning will not be viewed as highly.
In the case of an error, draw a single line through the incorrect data. Do NOT erase or use correction fluid. All corrections should be initialed and dated.
The FTC Engineering Notebook

8. FTC rules for the Engineering Notebook
Use both sides of a page. Never leave any white space: “X” out or Crosshatch all unused space, and don’t forget to initial and date.
To insert pictures or outside information into your notebook, tape the picture into your notebook and outline with permanent ink, to note that it was there in case it falls out. Put the corresponding page number on that inserted page.
Tip: Pictures or sketches of your robot designs are recommended as part of a thorough documentation.
Insert a copy of your Robot’s Bill of Materials (BOM) as part of your Engineering Notebook as required by rules elsewhere in this manual.
The FTC Engineering Notebook

9. FTC rules for the Engineering Notebook
The Engineering Notebook is also a good place to discuss and show team activities that are done throughout the team’s season. These activities can be placed in a separate section of the Engineering Notebook or chronologically within the design pages.
Don’t forget to put your team number in your Engineering Notebook and on your cover, so we know who to return it to after the judges have seen it!
The FTC Engineering Notebook

10. Judge’s Tips for the Engineering Notebook
Every notebook is a work in progress, forever changing and developing. Judges do not want to see a “final” copy notebook; they want the real thing complete with misspellings, stains, worn edges and wrinkled pages. Just remember to keep it real!
When turning notebooks into the judges at your event, place sticky tabs at the top of the page on your top 6-12 best moments as a team. Judges will use these pages as their preliminary review of your notebook.
Don’t be afraid to customize your Engineering Notebook to reflect your team’s personality! At the end of the season, this notebook will be a great piece of memorabilia for your team.
The FTC Engineering Notebook

11. So what goes in the Engineering Notebook?
Descriptions of Meetings and Events
Profiles of Team Members
Plans and Tasks
Notes and Observations
Photos and Diagrams
CAD renderings
Bill of Materials (BOM)
Printouts of your programming
The FTC Engineering Notebook

12. Suggestions for creating your Notebook
Use white board and flipcharts (and take pictures)
Insert lots of photos and diagrams
Document team activities separately from meetings and building sessions
Meetings are interactive with coaches
Building sessions are where the real work gets done
Activities are events, volunteer work, fund raising, promotion, et al
Outside of the behind-the-scenes team environment
The FTC Engineering Notebook

13. Example Notebooks: Team Profiles
The FTC Engineering Notebook

14. Example Notebooks: Mission Statement and Team Photo
The FTC Engineering Notebook

15. Example Notebooks: Meeting & Working Session
The FTC Engineering Notebook

16. Example Notebooks: Document Final Robot Design
The FTC Engineering Notebook

17. Example Notebooks: CAD renderings (OnShape/SketchUp/etc)
The FTC Engineering Notebook

18. Example Notebooks: Team Activity – FIRST HQ Visit
The FTC Engineering Notebook

19. Example Notebooks: Events
The FTC Engineering Notebook

20. Example Notebooks: Events
The FTC Engineering Notebook

21. Example Notebooks: Lessons learned from competition
The FTC Engineering Notebook

22. Example Notebooks: Competition
The FTC Engineering Notebook

23. Example Notebooks: Code Listings
The FTC Engineering Notebook

24. Example Notebooks: Team presentations and website
The FTC Engineering Notebook

25. Awards and the Engineering Notebook
Inspire Award
Rockwell Collins Innovate Award
Think Award (all about the notebook)
Connect Award
PTC Design Award
Control Award
All award descriptions are on the FTC awards webpage
The FTC Engineering Notebook

26. Tools for to help produce your notebook
Notebook itself
White board and/or flipcharts
For whole team to visualize
Voice recorder
Good to refer to for missed moments
Camera
Images of robot, team, meetings and building sessions, events and activities
CAD for design and/or documentation
pre- or post-build
The FTC Engineering Notebook

27. Engineering Notebook requirements
You can record digitally, but it must be printed out for judging
Bound (3” 3 ring binder), numbered pages, oversize for full page insertion, expandable binding for many inserts. No more than 2 binders.
Custom cover labels for Team labeling (Team Number and Team Name)
The FTC Engineering Notebook

28. Engineering Notebook requirements
1 page summary attached to front cover. Narrative about the team, school, and organization with bulleted highlights of the team’s season. It should have the team number and a list of the pages in the notebook (table of contents)
Must be divided into multiple sections
Engineering section (includes robot design processes: required)
Team section: (info about team and outreach activities: required)
Business Plan, Strategic Plan, Sustainability Plan: not required
The FTC Engineering Notebook

29. Engineering Notebook resources
Mentor Manual
Section on Engineering Notebooks and samples
FTC Example Engineering Notebooks
Under the Training Resources section of the FTC Team Resources webpage (4 full notebooks)
The FTC Engineering Notebook

30. The FTC Engineering Notebook
Questions?
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