Quote:
Originally Posted by gblake
I'll bet EricH and ArtK would quickly meet in the middle if they both agreed scouts should collect data that drivers, etc. want and will actually use; and that scouts shouldn't waste time collecting any other data (unless they have time to waste); and that scouts should get the needed data from wherever it is available, regardless of where that is.
If you need data from the pits, go get it. If you don't, don't do scouting there.
People shouldn't have the job of pit scouting, they should have the job of getting needed data; if you know what I mean.
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I agree with you for the most part, but sometimes its difficult to tell at the beginning of the season exactly what data is going to be the most important.
For example, in 2014 Team 20 thought that the amount of time the robot possessed the ball was going to be extremely important, and that our second pick would be largely based on that. As it turned out, that was completely unimportant, and our match scouts did far more work than necessary getting that information, and things like "What drivebase does Team X have?" and "How smart are their drivers and how well do we work with them?", both of which rely at least partially on pit scouting.
However, assuming you have the manpower to make it happen (not something Team 20 lacks), it's always better to have more data than not enough.
If you don't have the manpower to make it happen, either team up with another team so you gain the manpower, or find a way to narrow the data collection to only what is essential.