[J_Miles]

I like the system. It's very clean and nice to look at. It also seems like it would be relatively straightforward (after initial setup, of course) to enter AND look up the data. I'm not familiar with Access, but it seems like an excellent tool for scouting with.

I'd simply like to question the necessity of such in-depth scouting. I know lots of teams collect every ounce of data possible on the robot, but I'm not sure that's necessarily needed all of the time. I agree that it might be an asset to collect specific types of data: for example, this season the EngiNERDs's robot had the capability to elevate consistently, and also was one of the few teams with the capability to suspend a large number of teams. As such, our pit scouting data consisted entirely of a picture of robots for our scouting, as well as questions about

1. If the robot had capability to elevate
2. Where the robot suspended from (Vertical bars of the tower, or Horizontal bars of the tower)
3. Must the robot be on the bump to lift?

We discovered that using this system, our pit scouting could be done in a VERY short time (except for cases in which the robots were not in a condition to be photographed.) We also found that teams quite often seemed pleasantly surprised that we weren't occupying one of their team members for very long. This was also something that wasn't as much of a chore to do, which kept people happy while doing it; indeed, the process was extremely streamlined, and made it possible for two people to complete the process of pit scouting (for the most part) on the first morning of the competition.

While it is nice to have an abundance of data on robots, it seems like it may be more efficient to ask yourself, "what do we NEED to know?" Outside of performance data, not all technical data on the robots is necessary, outside of interest; thus, the question of "do we need this for the competition?" follows.

I'm simply expressing my opinions on streamlining the system. Other than my rant on efficiency, I really like the scouting system. That look-up system is quick and very pretty.

Keep at it!