I reviewed the topic on the engineering notebook a couple of weeks ago but it didn’t address very specific questions.
I am aware that quantity does not matter as much as quality, but would you know what number of pages I should write at least so as not to fall behind with respect to the other teams? Is there a specific legal minimum or maximum?
There is no limit, I would probably say that you should use 75% to 100% of the notebook and write in it every practice session. I did just that and got the Innovate Award(best notebook) at the Minnesota State. It’s a world invite, so make sure to make a s much use of your notebook as possible! Fill it with what you did every time and your plans.
Hi! As @15545G-SC hinted at, notebook quality is more important than quantity. The tips they provided are also some great things to take into account when working on the engineering notebook.
Some sections that I included in my team’s engineering notebook are Introductions & Basics (explaining notebook notes formatting & team information), Example Pages (what different formats of pages will most likely be used for), Game Analysis (identifying scoring elements), Goals (what your team wants to accomplish-use SMART Goals (Specific, Measured, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound)), Independent Progress (any thing that your team does outside of practices to help the team), Practice Notes (progress made at practices), Robot Design (CAD, visual representations, decision matrices, engineering design process), Robot Building (building progress of the robot), Programming, Wiring, & Controls (showing how your code functions and how it works and all of the changes made), Game Strategy (for Head-to-Head matches), Skills Strategy (plans for Skills and how it develops along the way), Tournaments (observations and your own tournaments), Online Challenges (if your team decides to do them), and a Reference Section.
There is no maximum or minimum, just remember to update the notebook often and you’re good to go!