Starter template for UTDesign EPICS hardware teams. Generate a repo from this template at the start of the semester, then keep three living documents up to date as your project evolves:
| Document | Path | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly Progress Report (WPR) | wpr/<semester>/w<n>.md |
One file per week logging per-member progress, blockers, and project status. |
| Requirements | requirements.md |
Single source of truth for what the build must do, tracked in a requirement matrix with status. |
| Architecture Decision Record (ADR) | docs/adr/NNN_<slug>.md |
One file per significant design decision — the options, the choice made, and the trade-offs. |
- Click Use this template → Create a new repository, or:
gh repo create UTDallasEPICS/<your-team-repo> --template UTDallasEPICS/hardware-template --private - Update
requirements.mdwith your project's actual requirements (delete the example rows). - Rename the WPR folder to your current semester and start logging weekly.
- Copy
docs/adr/001_template.mdto a new numbered file whenever you make a real design decision.
- One folder per semester, named
s<n>_<season><yy>— e.g.s1_fall26for the first semester of a project starting Fall 2026,s2_spring27for its second semester. - One file per week inside that folder, named
w<n>.md(w1.md,w2.md, …). - Fill out the report before your weekly lab/standup so mentors and partners can follow along.
- Every requirement gets a stable ID (
REQ-F-01,REQ-NF-01, …) that never changes or is reused. - Update the Status column as work progresses; log scope changes in the Change Log.
- Map each requirement to the GitHub issue, design doc, drawing, or test that satisfies it.
- Number ADRs sequentially:
001,002, … Never renumber or delete an ADR — supersede it instead. - Write one when a decision is hard to reverse or the reasoning would otherwise be lost (component/material selection, mechanism choice, power architecture, safety approach, etc.).
- Keep
001_template.mdas the blank template; copy it to start a new record.