For my teams notebook currently and last year, almost all builds are/were documented through 2.5 : 1 scale diagrams and near the beginning of the notebook (after the intro to the game, so before any builds are documented) a key/legend is made with all items that our team has access to/will possibly use this year. So when the diagrams of builds are made, you could refer to the key and know exactly what size screw or you spacer or whatever was used and could then make an exact replica of the build. This is also done to eliminate having to glue in photos and size photos to fit the pages. These photos of the robot could also bad lighting, bad angles, or different scales and it just looks neater and cleaner if there is a front, top, and side angle for everything we construct in the same scale. (More angles if the build is asymmetrical)
However, I do know from several previous notebook topics that CAD is good to include in a notebook, as well as multiple ways to document the design process. My team is able to do CAD, and it would be easier to visually show complete, large builds and how the separate mechanisms work and fit together that would be hard to sketch or take an unbearable amount of time. However, the problem I am having is would there be a way to document with CAD what each piece Is without relying on the reader to know what everything looks ? (Other than putting the CAD in the notebook and labeling directly on the photo what everything is)
(I try and be detailed as possible with the notebook, to where anyone with different learning styles (visual, logical/reading, a mixture, etc.) could replicate the design exactly and move forward with it or if my team changes a design but it’s terrible we could easily look back and redo the previous design)
