[EricH]

Originally Posted by ExarKun666

Well we were a rookie team this year as well, and when it came to scouting it wasn't all that organized, specifically, does anyone know programs, or maybe even a suggestion to how we might achieve a more organized system, because this year we were not sure as to what traits in a robot might be useful, so any tips on how we might determine those next year??

Analyze the game. Any trait can be useful to scout, including reliability and penalties. Excel seems to be the most common.

To build a system: Determine ways to score points. Autonomous/hybrid mode points should be included. Make one column for each (or row, if you prefer). Figure out what is best going to complement you, e.g. hurdler or lapbot, and then assign a weighting (often between 1 and 5) to each scoring method. Also have defense and penalties as weighted columns (penalties as negative, probably). Include space for comments. You can then either put in numbers of a given action or a rating. Compile the data into a spreadsheet (which you probably used to build a scouting sheet). Then you can sort, average, graph, analyze, and over-analyze to your heart's content.

The above is how I like to build a sheet; there are ways to make it easier to input data than each cell manually, but I don't know them yet.