Hey, I’m part of rookie team 3952, and since it’s our first year, I have a question about the engineering notebook.
Are engineering notebooks for FRC generally typed or handwritten?
Thanks!
Unlike FTC, there is no required Engineering Notebook for FRC. You’re welcome to record the progress of your team, but it’s not necessary for the competition.
Ours is handwritten for the most part, but sometimes computer-generated or printed things are pasted in.
I keep a loose leaf binder for every build, with printed and occasionally updated rules, all rule updates, spec sheets for many of the parts we are thinking of using, the dinner schedule, and all the sketches I make and students make and leave laying around.
The important stuff that the team does is mostly hand written, there are a few CAD renders, etc.
We at 842 this year are doing something we call the FRC Activity Sheet on Google Docs. Since Google Docs is online, everyone on the team has access to it. This year we made it a requirement for all students to post on the Activity Sheet at least once a week and so far it is producing awesome results. It is basically a timeline of our progress and pictures throughout the build season. I highly recommend doing something like this as it is great for keeping notes and we can also look back at past ideas we had during the build season.