Can we still print it for judging?

Yes. The notebook is written to be read on screen or on paper, and entries keep their order and dating either way.

Who can write entries?

Anyone on the team you give the permission to. Documentation access is a role permission like everything else in the portal.

Does it replace a physical notebook?

It replaces the scramble to assemble one. Plenty of teams still keep a paper log at the machine; this is where it gets turned into something judges can follow.

The whole toolkit Written as you build, not the week before judging

Engineering notebook

The engineering notebook is the single highest-leverage document an FTC team produces — it is most of what the Inspire Award is judged on — and it is almost always written in the last two weeks from memory. Documentation in Robolyst exists to make writing it during the season the path of least resistance.

Everything in the toolkit

Free for every team · run by a 501(c)(3)

One subsystem, read as the chronology a judge asks you to walk them through.

Intake — design log sample

Nov 12 Brainstorm
Roller intake vs. claw — three sketches cycle-time estimates for each
Nov 19 Design
Compliant roller CAD, v1 4 CAD screenshots
Nov 26 Build
First assembly on the practice bot
Dec 3 Test
Two samples at once jams the throat video · linked to task
Dec 10 Iterate
Wheels at 45°, throat widened 6mm

Design process Identify ProblemBrainstormResearchDesignBuildProgramTestIterate

Entries where the work happens

Write an entry from a phone in the shop, tag it to a subsystem and a design stage, and it lands in the notebook in order. No separate document to remember to open.

Structured the way judges read

Entries carry subsystem, stage and date, so the notebook can be read as a chronology or as the story of one mechanism. Both are questions judges ask.

Subsystems you define — drivetrain, intake, outtake, autonomous, whatever the robot has
Design stages from concept through iteration to final
Photos, CAD screenshots and video embedded inline
Links between entries, tasks and the parts that were ordered for them

Rich text that behaves

A real editor — headings, lists, tables, images, embeds — rather than a text box. What you write is what a judge sees.

Nothing lost between seasons

Last year’s notebook is still there next year, which is how a rookie learns why the drivetrain is the way it is instead of rediscovering it.

Questions teams ask

Can we still print it for judging?: Yes. The notebook is written to be read on screen or on paper, and entries keep their order and dating either way.
Who can write entries?: Anyone on the team you give the permission to. Documentation access is a role permission like everything else in the portal.
Does it replace a physical notebook?: It replaces the scramble to assemble one. Plenty of teams still keep a paper log at the machine; this is where it gets turned into something judges can follow.

The rest of the toolkit