Your notebook and portfolio
Save the work as it happens, then choose clear examples for judging.
An is the team's ongoing record of its work. A is a short, selected account of the prepared for . Start the record in your first meeting; you cannot recover every design decision from a photograph of the finished .
Record a useful decision
Your notebook can be digital, on paper, or a combination. Choose something the team can update and find again. It does not need polished page layouts for every meeting.
For a design change, record the problem, the options you tried, what happened in testing, and what you decided. Include names, dates, , photographs, and links to the relevant or code version.
For example:
The object caught on the left guide. We widened the opening by 5 mm and repeated the same ten approaches. Successful collections rose from six to nine. The remaining miss happened at the sharpest approach angle, so we kept that case for the next test.
This is an invented example of a record. Use your own counts and conditions. “Improved the intake” alone does not explain the work.
Keep failed ideas when they explain a decision. means changing a design after learning from a test. Judges can learn more from a clear reason for a change than from a row of finished robot pictures.
Build the portfolio from that record
Plan a portfolio that supports every judged award your team pursues. Include examples of the work you want judges to understand: robot design, programming, testing, team development, community activities, and plans for the team to continue.
The current submission format allows a cover and up to 15 content pages, using A4 or US Letter paper size. Put your team number on the cover. A digital submission must be less than 15 MB; MB means megabytes, a measure of file size. Ask your organizer how and when to submit it. Use the Portfolio handbook for detailed planning and examples.
Choose the strongest examples instead of shrinking a whole notebook onto the pages. A useful page answers one question, such as “Why did we change the lift?” or “What did students learn at our workshop?” Use a photograph, diagram, or short table where it makes the answer easier to follow.
Put the explanations, photos, and results on the pages themselves: judges will not follow a website link or video to find them. Protect student privacy by using first names and last initials rather than full names. Keep emergency contacts and other private records out of the portfolio.
Understand the awards
Judged awards recognize different kinds of team work. Read the criteria for the awards available at your event before choosing what to include.
| Award area | Work to explain |
|---|---|
| Think | How the team used an engineering process and learned from its decisions. |
| Connect | How students developed skills through people and opportunities beyond the team. |
| Reach | How the team helped bring new people into . |
| Sustain | How the team plans and works to continue into future seasons. |
| Innovate | A creative robot solution and why it solves the problem. |
| Control | How sensing and improve the robot's behavior. |
| Design | How the robot's overall design serves the team's goals. |
These are introductions, not the full scoring criteria. Inspire recognizes achievement across several areas of the program. It takes coordinated work throughout the season, rather than one special page written at the end.
Prepare to speak about the work
In a , students explain their season and answer questions. Give several students opportunities to speak and demonstrate their own work. Practise explaining a without assuming the listener knows your team's nicknames or software.
Bring a copy of the portfolio and prepare a short team presentation. For the initial presentation, practise staying within five minutes, then leave time to answer questions. Confirm the event's interview format and arrangements. Request access or translation support early if needed.
Say which parts students built, which help came from , and which designs or code came from other teams. Credit does not weaken your work; it helps the judges understand what you learned and contributed.
Make updates manageable
After each meeting, save a few useful photographs and a short note. Once a week, select examples that could go in the portfolio. Leave time before the event to check the numbers, make text readable, and practise the interview.
Start keeping these records while the robot is being built. Your team's learning and decisions are happening now.