Since our team will most likely not get into worlds, I was wondering for next year if you guys have any ideas how a proper notebook should be set up? I’ve never had a proper notebook that has quality work in it, so it would be helpful to have one for next year.
NEVER give up on your dreams!!
Probably the best advice for anyone tbh…
You can get to Worlds if you literally put your mind to it
Woah, woah, woah, what happened to this year???
Not much yet a whole lot
Realistically, you probably can’t build an awesome internal stacker before the time comes. If I were you, I woud focus on a skills-based robot. This way, with a relatively good programming skills, you could easily reach worlds.
First advice: Don’t give up!
Now:
The way we do it is we keep a typed copy that is shared with every member on the team. We have a template that we fill out for every meeting, and then we add in as many pictures as necessary to explain the day’s progress and to show how EVERYTHING is put together. Make sure to mark up your pictures to explain everything. Basically, as a judge once put it, our notebook was an “instruction manual,” and that was what impressed them.
We also include separate sections to cover every aspect that is on the rubric. This includes a section with all the code and explanations of everything. We have a team Bio section. Really, the best strategy for a great notebook is analysis of the rubric and include everything that you do. It is basically the story of your team’s life, not only your robot but everything your team does, including outreach events, volunteering, etc.
Do it all last night, guaranteed design lmao /s
Name not to be stated !!! We can try to get in to worlds! STOP BEING NEGATIVE!
Btw in PA only excellence award winner and the 3tourni champions make it to worlds.There is no skills qualifications for worlds. (For PA it’s only the top 15 in worlds skills.)
Top skills winner gets into world from states.
First, read page 1 of the design award rubric very closely – what do you have to do to get 3 points in each category? Doing those things will lead you to a stellar notebook.
I think the thing that many teams skip over is documenting the road not taken. My team’s default is just to write down what ultimately worked, and not write anything about the 27 different things that we tried that did not work. In other words, write about your whole design process, not just the direct path that got you to where you are right now.
I feel like a broken record here on the forum, but I did write a long article about this topic too: Engineering Notebook & Design Award
@ChampionEevee - @7517j is correct that this year, Eastern PA middle school has 4 slots, so that means excellence and tournament champs at states qualify. If there is a double qualifier (excellence winner also is a tournament champ) then the skills winner is the next to go. If they also qualified, it goes down the skills list until the next unqualified team is found.
I am the coach/mentor for 1274A (Igneous) and 1267C (DCCS - high school). 1267C won the design award at Eastern PA states the last two years to qualify for worlds, and has a strong notebook. I am happy to spend some time with you at the next GV event and show you their notebook from last year (they will be using this year’s at a high school event the same day) and give you some ideas to get you started.