Engineering Notebook Basics

This article covers the basics of what to include in an engineering notebook and how to organize it, for VEX IQ, VEX V5, VEX U, and VEX AI teams.

It is written for students, coaches, and organization administrators.

Definitions of the terms used here are maintained in the central glossary.

Before diving into this article, review the Engineering Notebook Rubrics. This is what judges use at events to score engineering notebooks, and it's a useful guide while you write yours.

Overview

Engineering notebooks are a key part of VEX Robotics Competitions. A notebook is a log of a team's complete engineering design process — the development of the robot's design and autonomous code throughout the entire season. Below are some basic tips to consider when creating an engineering notebook.

Notebook Organization

Keep an engineering notebook organized by documenting everything in chronological order. Include a table of contents, page numbering, and dating throughout the notebook. Make sure your team number appears on the notebook, entries are signed or initialed by the student who wrote them, and any outside sources — designs, mechanisms, code, or ideas your team built on — are credited where they appear.

Below is an example of a table of contents entry that allows for easy readability by judges.

Below is an example of a way to include pertinent information on each entry and stay organized.

This is attributed to the Notebook Organization section of the Engineering Notebook Rubric and covers 16 of 64 points, 25% of the total score.

Engineering Design Process

The engineering design process is the backbone of an engineering notebook. Following the steps of defining the problem, developing solutions, and optimizing your design is crucial to showing the full development of your robot. The Engineering Notebook Rubric scores this process in three parts — Define, Develop Solutions, and Optimize — described below.

Define

Define the problem your team is solving. Explain the criteria and constraints — the rules and limits that could impact possible solutions — and document your team's game strategy, including the scoring priorities and tradeoffs behind it. Record several distinct approaches during brainstorming, with enough detail to see how they differ from one another.

This is attributed to the Define section of the Engineering Notebook Rubric and covers 12 of 64 points, 18.75% of the total score.

Develop Solutions

Document continuous prototyping — ideally three or more attempts at a solution that clearly connect to one another. For each test, state what was measured, how, and under what conditions, so the test could be repeated by someone else. Record both qualitative and quantitative results in a form that supports data-based decisions. When your team makes a decision, state what was decided, how the decision was made, who was involved, and what evidence led to the choice.

Below is an example of a way to document test data in a table.

This is attributed to the Develop Solutions section of the Engineering Notebook Rubric and covers 16 of 64 points, 25% of the total score.

Optimize

Show your built solution through sketches, images, or CAD, with descriptive labels showing how or why parts of the mechanism exist. Document your code — through pseudocode, flowcharts, annotated screenshots, or commented code — in a way that shows the intention behind it and how it developed. Make sure changes to the robot or code follow clearly from your recorded test results, with the connection between testing and changes made explicit.

Below is an example of a diagram from the game manual with high-quality annotations of dimensions and details.

This is attributed to the Optimize section of the Engineering Notebook Rubric and covers 12 of 64 points, 18.75% of the total score.

Reflection and Iteration

Reflect throughout the season, not just at the end — reflections should shape what your team does next, not just summarize what already happened. Show iteration across the season in building, strategizing, and coding, so a judge can see a continuous pattern rather than a single change.

This is attributed to the Reflection and Iteration section of the Engineering Notebook Rubric and covers 8 of 64 points, 12.5% of the total score.

Best Practices

• Familiarize yourself with the Engineering Notebook Rubrics before starting your notebook.
• Stay organized and ensure everything is documented chronologically.
• Include failures and not just successes to show growth and improvement.