Engineering notebook
Record requirements, decisions, calculations, test results, revisions, and handoffs without turning the notebook into a transcript.
An records how the team designed and tested its . It helps another member understand a choice, repeat a test, or rebuild a .
Decision records
Keep the problem, requirements, alternatives, calculation assumptions, observations, and chosen action together. Include dates, responsible students, and the hardware and revisions involved.
Use photos to show the , labelled sketches to explain its geometry, and test tables to show how it performed. Put each beside the explanation it supports.
Older notebook guides can offer ideas for documenting mechanisms and decisions, but their judging context may be historical. Current submission requirements must come from official documents.
Record template
Problem: Retained object falls during a fast turn.
Requirements: Keep the current release path and maintain service access.
Alternatives: Change finger geometry, add compliance, reduce turn acceleration.
Records: Trial table and video, robot revision, battery and payload.
Reasoning: Which observation supports or weakens each explanation?
Decision: Selected change and the conditions under which it is accepted.
Verification: Repeated loaded turns and a release test after the change.
Follow-up: Any unresolved condition and the next test needed.Fill the template with your own records. Include unsuccessful ideas when they help explain the final choice.
Calculations
Show units, input measurements, equations, assumptions, and the result. Label whether a number is measured, taken from a datasheet, estimated, or selected as a target. A static estimate should not be presented as a tested continuous lifting capacity.
Keep exact part numbers and source links with the relevant calculation. Record the date when relying on a changing specification or game requirement. If the mechanism changes, revise the inputs rather than copying the old result into the new build page.
Team handover
For each mechanism, retain the current version, , assembly notes, wiring map, procedure, safe limits, known faults, and replacement checks. Link to source files rather than pasting several inconsistent copies.
Connect the written record with the physical modules through consistent naming. Use names the team actually uses at the robot.
Judging material
Choose examples from the notebook for your or presentation. Show a problem, a choice you made, the test that followed, and the students who did the work.
Use the Portfolio section for page planning, examples for awards, writing, interview preparation, and detailed Inspire case studies.
Use the current submission requirements for your portfolio. Other teams’ examples can give you ideas for explaining your own work.
End each build session with the state of the robot, the next unresolved decision, and one concrete test or task another student can pick up. That small handoff is often more useful than a long meeting transcript.