[tindleroot]

The primary purpose of scouting is to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of every other team at the competition. This is easily quantifiable this year (for example, being able to cross a defense is a strength, while not being able to cross it is a weakness). Also take into consideration speed and consistency, as scoring faster or more accurately is a strength. Every data point you take should be an indicator of a strength or weakness compared to other teams. Some obvious ones I see are:

Can they go through defense a, b, c, ...?
Boulder scores vs. misses (and which goal they score in)
Cycle times
How many damaging crossings they have
How many shots they block/defend on the other team
Do they challenge the tower in every match?
Can they scale? How consistently?
etc.

Using the information you collect, you can figure out who you would want to have as an alliance partner. Generally, the optimal alliance would be one where the 3 robots minimize each other's weaknesses and boost each other's strengths. If you are in a captain's position, form an alliance with that team. If you are not in a captain's position, make sure to communicate with teams you're interested in allying with who are in a captain's position. If you can provide reasoning as to why they should pick you, then they might pick you.