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Engineering Notebook
FTC Robotics: The Engineering Notebook
Chris Hoppel [email protected]
Danielle Hoppel [email protected]
TechBrick Robotics * www.TechBrick.com * [email protected]
Engineering Notebook
Outline
• Planning your Notebook Why keep a notebook? How will your team complete the notebook?
• Guidelines for your Notebook Engineering Notebook requirements FIRST rules Biography Page Outreach Page Meeting Page
• Conclusions • Questions
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Engineering Notebook
Why Keep an Engineering Notebook • Its an important part of the learning process!
It encourages the students to think, plan, and reflect during the building process.
It leaves a written record of what was done so that students who missed a meeting can catch up to the group.
• It is an engineering skills Most engineers in research and development keep an
engineering notebook An engineering notebook can serve as legal record for
patents • It is part of the US FIRST judged awards
It is required for the THINK, Design, Innovate and Inspire awards
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Engineering Notebook
How will your team keep a notebook? • Discuss with your team from the beginning of the
year • Will you have everyone write in the notebook? • Will you complete the notebook at meetings, or
afterwards? • Will you have a paper notebook, or electronic? • What material will be presented in your notebook?
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Engineering Notebook
How will your team keep a notebook? – Team 7 answers
• Discuss with your team from the beginning of the year
• Will you have everyone write in the notebook? Yes! Everyone writes in the notebook
• Will you complete the notebook at meetings, or afterwards? Usually at the meeting, sometimes a student will take it
home • Will you have a paper notebook, or electronic?
We always like a real book, but every year we debate a paper copy
• What material will be presented in your notebook? Biographies, Summer Outreach events, meetings in order
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Engineering Notebook
Notebook Guidelines
• An engineering notebook is a legal record of what was done All entries in ink! Do not add or remove pages, or erase mistakes!
Draw a single line through mistakes Do not leave blank space, make an “X” through empty space
All pages should be numbered in order Each page should be signed by two people
Team #7 usually has the primary author and one witness
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Engineering Notebook
FIRST Guidelines
• An engineering notebook captures the team’s journey Docment everything! Capture the “Ah-ha” moments Record design changes in your robot Capture calculations, ideas, and sketches Do not use separate scrap paper – make sure your ideas get
in the engineering notebook!
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Engineering Notebook
Biography Page
• Biography page for each member of the team and the coaches
• Each person should include a photo, and some background on themselves What grade are you in? How long have you been involved in robotics? Why are you interested in robotics? What else are you interested in? What do you hope to do?
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Engineering Notebook
Outreach events
• Summarize what you did • Include pictures or flyers from the event • Who did you meet with? • If you met with students, how many? What were their
ages?
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Engineering Notebook
Meetings
• Two columns: Tasks and Reflections • Summarize what you plan to do and what you did • Include sketches or pictures of your robot • Pro-Engineer makes great engineering drawings • Graph paper can help with some hand-sketches
Pictures and graphs should be outlined in ink and taped • Include good ideas and learning experiences
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Engineering Notebook
Other Important Material
Bill of Materials Summaries of your Competitions and Championship
events Team Budget Fund Raisers
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Engineering Notebook
Conclusions:
• Your Engineering Notebook is an essential part of your FIRST experience It’s a learning tool It’s a record of what you accomplished
• Every student should be a part owner of the notebook Team #7 members competed to see who wrote the most
pages by the end of the year • When in doubt on the notebook rules, check the
FIRST Game manual • Have Fun!