Notebooker

As a Notebooker for a VEX IQ Robotics Competition team, your primary focus is documenting your team's journey, design process, and game strategy.

1. The Student-Centered Documentation Rule

The Engineering Notebook is one of the most important parts of the season because it tells the story of your team.

• Student Ownership: The notebook must be created and maintained entirely by the students.

• Adult Boundaries: Adults are allowed to teach you concepts (like how to draw a diagram or use a table), but they are prohibited from transcribing, typing, or editing any entries for you.

• No AI Assistance: You are not allowed to use Large Language Models (AI) to write or improve the content of your notebook.

• Original Content: While you can be inspired by formats used by other teams or in previous seasons, all the actual writing and drawings must be your own original work.

2. What to Document

A great notebook doesn't just show the final robot; it shows the journey of how you got there.

2. What to Document

A great notebook doesn't just show the final robot; it shows the journey of how you got there.

• The Design Process & Team Collaboration: You should record your brainstorming sessions, game analysis, and the different ideas you considered before picking a final design. This includes documenting ongoing collaboration and communication with team members across all key roles—working with the Designer on layout and mechanics, the Builder on assembly and structural changes, the Coder on programming logic and autonomous routes, and the Strategist on match strategy and scoring priorities.

• Iteration and Innovation: Every time you change your robot or code, you should document why you made the change and what happened during testing. Judges look for evidence that you learned from your mistakes.

• Giving Credit: If your team is inspired by another team's design, you must clearly document it, give them credit, and describe the meaningful changes you made to make it your own.

• Technical Details: Include drawings of your robot's mechanisms, explanations of how your code works, and the strategies you developed for the "Level Up" game.

3. Defending Your Work

The notebook is your "proof" that the team followed the rules.

• Proving Ownership: If a referee or judge has a question about whether your robot or code was built by students, they will look at your notebook for evidence.

• Explaining Decisions: You should be prepared to use your notebook to explain how your robot functions and why you made certain design or strategy choices.

• Judged Awards: If you want to be considered for certain awards at a competition, you must submit your notebook for the judges to review.