Quote:
Originally Posted by ttldomination
Mr. Ed Law, goes by 'Ed Law' on the forums, also posts scouting spreadsheets of data for teams in the events. These spreadsheets are all numbers, but they give a person a good feeling about how things are moving.
- Sunny G.
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Dr. Law, actually, and it's true, his often-updated spreadsheets are as good as you can get without actually watching any matches.
What Mr. Ross notes is very important. Scouting should not simply be gathering information, it should be gathering information
for a defined purpose.
Purposes could be to decide match strategy, whether in qualifiers or eliminations, or to choose alliance partners. Once you know what you want from scouting, you can begin to discuss how you want to obtain that data.
Sometimes, categorising the robots as "defenders" and "scorers" is all you need. In other cases, you want accurate, precise scoring predictions for particular teams.
Most teams, to obtain data, use scouters in the stands filling in sheets of subjective (qualitative) or objective (quantitative) data. This data is sometimes compiled into spreadsheets and should be used for scouting meetings (used to decide team strategy, both for matches and selections). Other teams utilise match video or other resources. But, when it all comes down to it, what matters most is obtaining all the data you want to or can use and no more.
As for actually answering your questions, I would suggest that scouters be as prepared as they need to be. If they're analysing robots strictly by watching match video, they'd have to know strategy very well and be extraordinarily observant. However, if they're simply marking how much a robot scores, penalties, etc., they only have to be trained insofar as being able to fill out their sheet. The "training" for the former is usually just practice. Practice can be over years of watching FRC games or hours spent watching robots and strategies for a specific game. It's simply not an easy skill to teach or master, especially with how quickly strategies evolve over the course of a season.
We scout using a combination of methods. We have scouters filling in objective data about robots for all robots in every match. This is compiled into a spreadsheet and the resulting data is used for all match strategies. The data becomes more accurate as more matches are entered into the system (later in events). We also have a few scouters who watch matches and write subjective notes, but their role is limited due to the difficult nature of writing accurately from a subjective standpoint. In the past year and half, we've recorded matches and used these as references during scouting meetings, when necessary. Like in sports, game film can be used both to better your own play and anticipate that of your opponents.