How do you do scouting software?
 

I'm just curious to see what everyone else does. So how do you do it? Wirelessly using an Intranet router? Using PalmOS devices? Using laptops? Old school pen and paper?

Let me know how your team does their scouting software...

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

We made a DESS (Digitally Enhanced Scouting System) here is a link to
http://www.nventivity.com/scout.htm


It work very well, it automatically make stats that you could never do by hand. All you need is a team of people in the crow taking scores, it is also adaptable to each years game. Hope you like it!

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Our team uses lots of man power and paper to scout. We just had a meeting last night to decide the scouting team. Our plan has two phases:

Phase 1: We came up with about ten questions to ask other teams in order to give us an accurate picture of what their robot is supposed to do. We also are going to walk around the pits taking several pictures of everyone else's robot.

Phase 2: After the work in the pits is done then we will move back up to the stands to watch all the matches. Each scouting team member will watch one robot during a match and record how it does on a form that we came up with last night. The data and pictures will then be entered into a computer in an excel or word document that we can come back an look at later on.

And that's how Team 1625 scouts a regional.

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Last year team 2217 from Kiryat Motzkin used a laptop for its scouting software.

This year one of the teams I'm in is going to use Palm.

We don't have the software yet but we might have it on time if we find it vital to our team's success.

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

We used to use laptops with an internet router connected to a laptop we converted into a web server for scouting but we had to arrive to the competition early every day to secure a spot in the stands to plug in the router. So now we made a java based scouting program for our laptops.

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Team 836 uses an access database as the backend database. The database is updated each year with the new rules, new items to track (i.e., number of hurdles, laps completed, etc...). We also have a wireless router that we use to set up a wireless network for data entry. In addition, we have a IM style application that allows communication from the scouting team to the pit. New this year, we are setting up a front end web-based BI tool, to do reporting, data mining, predictive analysis, scorecards, etc... that will be accessible via the wireless network. We intend to broadcast the reporting capabilities to anyone at the tournament, who can then view the reports and team scorecards at any time. Let me know if you have any questions!

Best regards,

Steve

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

We will be using a Nintendo DS system for scouting here is one link http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ht=nintendo+ds

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

THis is how weve done it the past 3 years.
We used to use palms and such, but they were to problematic to us.
Paper and Pen with students who know what to look for i think is the best because you can run a piece of paper down to the field to give to the drive team so they know what to expect and they can keep for reference.

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Paper and pen(cil), followed by loading the data into an Excel spreadsheet, and then analyzing to death.

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Software scouting can do some powerful tricks that paper scouting just can't, but really, your team has to decide what suits them. Plus, I'm not sure if those tricks have been implemented. I'm thinking specifically of a "match breakdown", a single-page breakdown of any match, based on current info.

If you decide to make your own scouting software, like most teams, I recommend including a way to keep track of pictures of the bots. That and a "notes" section for experienced people could work wonders for planning, with a couple stats for ranking purposes...

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Good old paper and pencil (mistakes may be made), followed by the Head Scout (me) collecting all the papers and trying to make some sense out of the completely incomprehensible writing contained therein. Also, I try to focus more on performance than on features-I don't care whether it's 2-wheel or 6-wheel drive, I care what its lap time is. What do you guys focus more on?

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

We are trying to figure this exact thing out. Any help at all on this?
Thanks
Matt
894

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Any chance of you guys sharing this entire system to other teams so someone could set it up at other regionals?

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

I would love to, but at this point, the software company that owns the BI tool that does all the reports, the web tools, etc... - who I work for - has not allowed me to share that part of the system. I guess it is a licensing issue for them. If you are at Trenton or Chesapeake, then I'd be happy to let you on to the network to use the tools. I am hoping that at some point my company will allow this technology to be used by other teams. Maybe by the 2009 season, I'll have effectively broken them down and they will let others use the system! I would, however, be happy to share the access database that we developed, the paper and pencil scouting sheets - both pit sheets and match sheets, and also the IM system (which is available as a free download, I just have to find the link!) Let me know if you would like a copy of all this, and I'll post it here as a zip file on CD or email it to you directly.

Best regards,

Steve

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Could team 894 view the access database that you created. WE are trying to come up with something just like that. Thank you!
Matt Rybar
894

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

If you send me your email address, I'll be happy to email you a copy of the database this weekend. I am on travel and need to get to my home computer to get the current copy of the database.

Best regards,

Steve

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

This year, we're going Excel with Visual Basic modifications. Auto-sort and forms, mainly.

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

merybar@gmail.com

Thanks for you help!!!!!!
Matt Rybar
894

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

You should have it now. Let me know if you have any questions. Any one else want a copy, let me know either via private message, or just post your email address.

One other thing, and I mentioned this in my earlier post - we also use a tool called DC++ (htpp://dcplusplus.sourceforge.net), or Direct Connect Network, to allow secure IM style messaging from the stands to the pits. It is nice to have a live electronic network communication, rather than "Sneaker-net" that we have used in the past!

Best regards,

Steve

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

This is a question for t-raum.....Could you tell me what your ten questions are going to be. OUr team (Plaid Pillagers) are trying to figure out our scouting ideas and we need to figure it out soon. I think that we are goin got do the paper/pencil old school method, becuase it seems the easiest (and we are a rookie team). Any additional info on areas to focus on when scouting would be very helpful! thanks!

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

We use pencil and paper only, although generally my father and I create forms in advance that address what we consider important about the design and capabilities of any given robot and print one copy labeled with the general info of each team in attendance.

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Team 245 normally uses pencil and paper for scouting. We use one set of papers for scouting the robot before the matches to identify its features (drive system, manipulator(s), expected abilities, etc.) and a second set for scouting during the matches to note what the team actually does and how well it performs those functions (where it scores, how many times, etc.).

This year, with any luck, we may go digital and use a database. I am creating a website with a branch just for FRC and scouting (local copies of the branch will be made). The site will hopefully be available to all teams to utilize a week before the first set of regionals.

P.S.
I couldn't think of a better name when I made the site: FIRST Chat :cool:
Attached is a preview of the site.

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

If any of you are interested in our Scouting System, I have posted a copy of the access database, the pit scouting form, the match scouting form, scouting directions, and match set up sheet in excel. They are in a zipped file located in the CD media whitepaper folder: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2085

Please feel free to download our scouting system!

Good luck this year! I hope to see you at a regional or at the championships!

Best regards,

Steve

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Some quick directions for those of you who have downloaded the software.

You can either put all the basic match info onto an excel spreadsheet - match number, alliance pairing, etc..., and import it into the tbl_match table, or use the switchboard menu to select match set up. Just so you know, it pulls up the set up form in a single form, right
click the top of the form and change to datasheet, resize it, and type the values there.

If you haven't had a lot of experience with MS Access, when you open it, it will open up to the Switchboard Main Menu - Click F11 to see the database window, tables, forms, queries and reports.

If you use the Team picture functionality - make sure you create a folder "C:Team Pictures" to store the pictures. Save the pictures in this format XXXX.jpg with the Xs representing the team number. i.e., 0006.jpg, 0022.jpg, 0123.jpg, or 1234.jpg.

Let me know if you have other questions!

Steve

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

old school...
we have people w/ pens and papers on the side making notes
and one person who enters all the information into the laptop

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Normally, I would have posted sooner on this myself, but I've been busy. ;) My wife and I are expecting, about a week after Atlanta.

768 uses a hybrid system - I think there's still value to the pen-paper aspect since it lets you cover more things at once, but we enter everything into a custom application after, for doing analysis. Last year, we had a web-start java app that we were sharing - this year, we're building a web application that runs on XAMPP to make it easier to share data. I'm fairly certain we'll have our system up and running at Chesapeake, don't know yet about the team's trip to Finger Lakes. (Due to travel restrictions from the reason above, I'm not going along.)

I'll probably make the app available mid-week for download in its beta form, along with instructions for installation.

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

I just posted up 1086's VCU Regional Scouting, Its an online database/form. http://scouting.bluecheese1086.org We are going to update the information ourselves, but other teams can enter information also. Because this is online, and we might not have internet connection at the regional, we will have a local network setup so teams at the regional can view it and it will have match stats also.

Re: How do you do scouting software?
 

Here is a link to the thread I started for our new 2008 scouting database. It is up there for any team to use and so is the source code so you can modify it or learn how we made it.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=65300