The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Engineering Portfolio is a crucial component of the judging process, offering teams an opportunity to showcase their journey, challenges, and successes throughout the season. It serves as a narrative of your team's engineering design process, problem-solving approaches, and overall team experience.
The Engineering Portfolio is designed to:
Document the Engineering Design Process: Provide judges with a clear understanding of how your team identified problems, brainstormed solutions, prototyped, iterated, and refined your robot design.
Showcase Team Learning: Highlight the technical skills, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities developed by team members.
Demonstrate Robot Functionality and Strategy: Explain the rationale behind your robot's design choices and how they align with your game strategy.
Illustrate Team Organization and Outreach: Detail how your team operates, manages its resources, and contributes to the community.
Inform Judges: Give judges essential background information about your team and robot before their interview.
While the exact structure can vary, a strong Engineering Portfolio typically includes the following sections. Teams should always refer to the official FTC Game Manual Part 1 for the most current requirements and suggested headings.
Team Name & Number: Clear identification.
Team Photo: A recent photo of the entire team.
Season/Game: Specify the current FTC game season.
Summary/Introduction: A brief overview of your team and what to expect in the portfolio.
Team Structure: How your team is organized (e.g., sub-teams for build, code, outreach).
Meeting Schedule & Workflow: How often and where you meet, and your process for decision-making and task management.
Safety Plan: How your team ensures a safe working environment.
Funding & Budget: A brief overview of how your team acquires and manages funds.
This section is paramount and should extensively document your iterative design process.
Initial Concepts & Brainstorming: Describe early ideas, design considerations, and game analysis.
Requirement Identification: What specific challenges did your robot need to address for the game?
Prototyping & Testing: Document the various prototypes built, the tests conducted, and the data collected. Include photos of prototypes, even failed ones, to show learning.
CAD (Computer-Aided Design): If used, showcase CAD models, assemblies, and detailed drawings. Explain how CAD informed your design.
Iteration & Refinement: This is critical. Show how initial designs evolved based on testing, challenges, and new ideas. Clearly state what didn't work and why, and what changes were made.
Manufacturing/Construction: Describe the tools and techniques used to build the robot.
Break down your robot into its main functional components and dedicate a subsection to each.
Drivetrain: Type (e.g., Mecanum, Tank), motor choice, gear ratios, and reasoning for selection.
Intake/Collector: How the robot picks up game elements, mechanisms, and iteration.
Scoring Mechanism (Shooter, Lifter, Depositor): Detailed explanation of how the robot scores points, including power sources, kinematics, and control.
Climbing/Endgame Mechanism: If applicable, explain the design and operation.
Sensing Systems: Sensors used (e.g., color, distance, vision) and their purpose.
Programming Language & Tools: Java, Blocks, OnBot Java, Android Studio, SDK versions.
Code Structure & Logic: Explain key code modules, state machines, autonomous routines, and tele-op control.
Vision Processing: If used, explain libraries (e.g., OpenCV, EasyOpenCV), algorithms, and their application.
Driver Control: Describe how drivers control the robot and any unique features.
Version Control: How your team manages code changes (e.g., Git, GitHub).
Initial Strategy: How your team planned to play the game based on analysis.
Robot-Strategy Alignment: How your robot's design directly supports your chosen strategy.
Autonomous & Tele-Op Strategy: Detailed plans for both periods of the match.
Alliance Considerations: How your robot complements potential alliance partners.
Activities: Describe how your team spreads STEM and FIRST in your community.
Impact: Quantify the impact of your outreach (e.g., number of people reached, new teams mentored).
Collaboration: Any partnerships with schools, businesses, or other FIRST teams.
Team Longevity: How your team plans to sustain itself in future seasons (e.g., recruiting, fundraising, knowledge transfer).
Mentorship: How mentors contribute and how knowledge is passed down.
Challenges & Solutions: What difficulties did your team face, and how did you overcome them?
Reflections: What did your team learn this season, both technically and non-technically?
Improvements: What would your team do differently next time? How will you apply this learning to future seasons?
Judges spend a limited amount of time reviewing portfolios and interviewing teams. A strong portfolio makes their job easier and ensures your team's story is effectively told.
Evidence of the Engineering Design Process: This is the most critical aspect. Judges want to see a clear, logical progression from problem identification to solution, including brainstorming, prototyping, testing, data analysis, and iterative refinement. Simply describing your final robot is not enough; show how you got there.
Clarity and Conciseness: The portfolio should be easy to read and understand. Use clear language, avoid jargon where possible, and get straight to the point. Judges have many portfolios to review.
Demonstrated Learning and Iteration: Show that your team learned from failures and made continuous improvements. Documenting unsuccessful prototypes or approaches is often more valuable than just showcasing successes, as it highlights problem-solving skills.
Team Voice and Authenticity: The portfolio should reflect your team's unique personality and story. It should feel like it was written by the students, not just copied from a template.
Visual Appeal: Incorporate high-quality photos, diagrams, CAD renders, and flowcharts. "A picture is worth a thousand words" holds true here. Visuals help judges quickly grasp complex concepts.
Impact (Outreach & Sustainability): While engineering is central, judges also value teams that contribute to their community and have a plan for long-term success.
Adherence to Guidelines: Pay close attention to page limits (typically 15 pages for the body, plus cover page and table of contents) and formatting requirements specified in the game manual. Failure to meet these can result in penalties or even disqualification for awards.
Link to Interview: The portfolio should provide a solid foundation for the judge interview. Be prepared to elaborate on any aspect of your portfolio during the interview.
Start Early and Document Often: The portfolio is not a last-minute task. Begin documenting your design choices, brainstorming sessions, test results, and outreach activities from the very beginning of the season. Use a shared document or logbook.
Be Thorough but Concise: Provide enough detail to convey your process without overwhelming the reader. Use bullet points, short paragraphs, and clear headings.
Use Visuals Effectively:
Photos: High-resolution, well-lit photos of your robot, prototypes, testing setups, and team members in action.
Diagrams: Simple schematics, flowcharts for code, or sketches to explain complex ideas.
CAD Renders: If you use CAD, include clear renders of your assemblies and sub-assemblies.
Captions: Always caption your images and refer to them in the text.
Tell Your Team's Story: Weave a narrative throughout the portfolio. What challenges did you face? How did you overcome them? What lessons did you learn? This makes your portfolio engaging and memorable.
Review and Edit: Proofread carefully for grammar, spelling, and clarity. Have multiple team members (and even mentors) review it. Ensure consistency in formatting and terminology.
Align with Judging Rubric: Understand the official FTC judging rubric. Your portfolio should provide clear evidence for each criterion. Tailor your content to address what judges are looking for.
Maintain a Consistent Aesthetic: Use a consistent font, color scheme, and layout throughout the document to make it look professional and polished.
By dedicating time and effort to your Engineering Portfolio, your team can effectively communicate its hard work, innovation, and learning journey to the judges, significantly impacting your chances for success and recognition in FTC.