I'd like to expand a little on my previous post. My team has used a few main methods of scouting over the last three years, and each certainly had its merits. I'll lay them out below:
Paper Scouting
In terms of ergonomics, paper is by far the best. It's so easy to understand that it requires virtually no scouter training for it to work. However, it comes with so many glaring problems that I'd never use it again. The biggest issue is entry- in order to keep up with the onslaught of papers, I had to be in the stands, typing in data for the entire duration of the event. Not only is this tedious, it's stressful, uncomfortable, and horribly inefficient. Taking turns on entry would be fine too, but still incredibly tedious and shift changes can put you behind very easily. I would only recommend this to new and entry-level scouting teams who don't have the time to take advantage of the numerous better options.
Game Controllers
Game controllers are a good option for teams who want to go a step above paper, but don't have the programming skills to go with an app or database. It's pretty easy to make with a basic understanding of java. Just have data entries export to a text file, import it into excel, and you're golden. The biggest problem with this system is that it's horribly uncomfortable for scouters. Game controllers were never designed for data entry and they don't lend themselves well to it, outside of the ease of programming. Expect significant data inaccuracies and headaches over tangled cables.
Apps
This is the gold standard, without a doubt. Android Studio has a learning curve, but it comes with a vast set of awesome tools that make app development easier. Almost everyone has a smartphone, so it's very accessible. Having the app export data to a text file is easy, and will work consistently. However, this method can cause issues, as some devices will save the text file in places that can't be accessed easily (phones with emulated SD cards do this) and ensuring everyone is giving their phones over for data ripping can be annoying. We did this last season, and found great success with it. The data is reliable, the management is easy, and the backend is simple. However, if you're really looking for a god-tier scouting system, an app that interfaces with a database is the only way. With a broadband card on a laptop in the pit, you can have live data updates between the stands and the pit, without breaking tournament rules. The data aggregates itself, so there's no headaches over data reliability.
So, now that I've layed that all out, here's team 2338's scouting system for the 2016 Season- GearScout.
Features:
- Universal: Available for both iPhones and Androids. Both applications do the exact same thing.
- Simplicity: Communication with an Amazon DynamoDB noSQL database- all data is aggregated live, and requires no extra overhead. We manage the server, you manage the app. Simply fetch your data from the database using your team number and the FIRST event code.
- Security: Backups are made in the form of text files on every device so, in case something goes wrong, data can be recovered easily.
- Comprehensive: Tracking of qualitative and quantitative scouting data, so evaluations of teams can be well-rounded and comprehensive.
- Reputation: Two teams on Einstein last season used our scouting app, and many other reputable teams found great success with GearScout throughout the season.
- Versatility: GearScout data can be easily imported to Excel, Access, Tableau, and any data management software that supports text file imports or PHP requests. We are developing a Java applet that will communicate directly with the server, take the data you've requested, and spit out an easily-manageable text file with only the data you've requested. We are also experimenting with the addition of ODBC support, which will make live data connections even easier. If you decide to use the backup files saved on the phones, instead, we also include a Windows batch file which will quickly combine all the files together, once they're copied to the same folder on your system.