In the two prior seasons, teams started submitting notebooks electronically. These ranged from a word type docs, slideshows or scans of their paper notebook. For some teams it was a struggle to do all electronic in figuring out a format.
In the summer of 2022 a team of VEX Robotics staff put together a pretty comprehensive set of templates and elements for teams to use. I was very lucky to be one of the early testers and I was very excited to see the possibilities.
Across the season I’ve done some notebook judging and I’ve seen the template in action. Roboteers have made some very detailed notebooks, a few have won awards. I saw lots of TOC, team photos, strategy details using the field elements, plug diagrams using the brain and controller mappings.
(Just an aside, being able to judge notebooks the week before, at home, has been a game changer)
If you used the VEX template this year, how did it work out, what was your experience? What features did you use? Did you use the parts sheets to show assembles?
My team used the template this year and it was a great experience. It was very easy to use to stay organized. We used the table of contents and blank entry part of it. Along with the brain and controller mappings. We also added a couple pages for team bios. 10/10 would definitely use again next year.
Two of my four teams used the template and two stuck to a traditional paper notebook. My experience as a mentor is that the electronic notebook seemed much easier for the teams to keep up to date and to record their process in detail. In fact, one of my teams has what I would consider an incredible and truly exemplary notebook. They did win both a Design and an Innovate award this year, but there were times when I suspect that some judges may have still preferred to see an old-school paper notebook. I’m sure that will change with time though.
If there is a way for me to get it to you I would happily share the link to their notebook, but I’m not sure how without DMs.