Quote:
Originally Posted by Christian2443
Goals for 2014 Scouting:
1. Database where all the pit and match scouting information for all the teams will be located. (Currently we are learning how to use microsoft access 2007 and we are novice using it.)
2. Use 6 labtops,tablets, or smartphones to fill out a match scouting form for each robot in a match, then get that data sent over to a main labtop which all the information will be stored into a database.
3. Take the data and place it into tableau to analyze.
4. Get this data on to a tablet for our members in the pit area to have it. Also these team member are able to access the data to strategize for matches and alliance selection.
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Sounds a lot like what my old team implemented...
Some ideas:
- You can't use wireless (and Im not sure bluetooth is really that reliable for data transfer like this), but you can use wired. You can buy an
8 port switch, and disable any wireless features (if it has it) to set up a network. This does have the downside of usually requiring AC power.
- Check with the venues at the places you will be going, make sure you can use their AC power and that there is a good place for you to setup (sometimes they cannot allow teams to use AC power) There are ways to get around this, but building a big battery based power supply or having enough battery to last for a 10 hour day can be difficult.
- Make your input simpler than you think you need! Its often hard to know exactly what info your drive team will need, so a lot of databases collect an awful lot of data. But think back to your match discussions and ranking discussions from past years. Usually you only end up relying on a couple of key statistics, and maybe a photo of the robot. Try to simplify and take out what you can for your first shots at electronic data entry.
- Finish EARLY and test YOUR ENTIRE SYSTEM at least a WEEK before you get to competition. Set up all of your laptops exactly as you plan to have them setup, have your 7 people sit and watch webcasts of scrimmages or events weeks before yours and test everything out. In THEORY all of your SW & HW will work fine, but you DON'T want to be fighting silly software bugs, packet transfer issues, bad cable connections or inability of scouts to input data fast enough to keep up with matches. Make sure you have a reliable way to transfer the info to the tablet without interrupting the flow of the database. Test it ALL!! I cannot emphasize this one enough.
Good luck!