Quote:
Originally Posted by jamie_1930
I think it be much better if we just did away with scouting.
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I heartily recommend that approach. One less team for us to worry about then.
No, seriously: smurfgirl said it best. Read her post again.
Scouting wins matches and regionals. If the data you're getting from scouting isn't helpful, change the kind of data they collect.
We have 2 kinds of scouting: Pit scouting and match scouting.
Pit scouting collects basic info about the robot: number of wheels, type of end effector, whether they have a hanging mechanism or not, stuff like that. We sometimes use that to help decide on whether to pick a team, and more often on how to work with or against a team. The scouts who do this are our 'ambassadors', the really outgoing types. They make a lot of friends for themselves and the team.
Match scouting collects performance data: goals scored, how many times they hang, which zone they play, and the like. This is collected by six students watching every match, one for each robot. All the data is entered on laptops and collected on a local server in real time. (We happily make this data available to anyone who wants it).
Match scouting, for those doing the scouting,
is awful. Nobody really likes to do it, but they all understand just how critically important complete and accurate information is.
Last season we also videotaped* every match at the regional. This was a tremendous help when deciding which team would fit our strategy best. Note that how well a team actually performs (i.e., their ranking) is not as relevant as their capabilities. Example: At VCU regional, Team Blue Cheese (1086) ranked 10th I think. We didn't know them from before ever, but their actions on the field fit in perfectly with how we thought to best play and win the game. We won the regional, even though there were some higher-scoring and -performing teams we could have picked. (Only aftre we pciked them did we learn of 1086's reputation as a powerhouse team. We know why now, too).
*Does anyone actually use tape anymore? Unfortunately, our video of VCU got lost (Ethan!) and was never posted to TBA.
