We're looking for a scouting system

[BitTwiddler]

Team 1726 has been using paper scouting forms and sneakernet to compile the scouting data for way too long. Time to automate.

I know this topic has come up before but it would be informative to know what's out there currently. The threads I've read on this topic are nearly a year old.

I envision the scouts using their Android devices (iPhone also would be desirable) to fill in a configurable scouting form then uploading the form data to the server laptop to aggregate the data.

I like the idea that someone proposed to use a QR code to scan the data into the server but bluetooth seems to be the media of choice for most of the apps I've seen discussed here. Either way would probably meet our needs.

What scouting collection and reporting apps are currently available that we can use? Any turnkey applications out there that can be easily configured for use by a team with limited knowledge of the different programming languages?

Your input will be most appreciated.

[MooreteP]

If you are creative with Google Forms, you can aggregate scouting data in interesting ways.

Scouting has always been a slog in the past, especially for the students inputting the data. A true buzzkill.

A well made Survey allows them to enjoy the matches and gather pertinent data.
Therein lies the rub. That is where you need to be creative.

Personally, I could regale you with tales about creating team data sheets with Robot pictures garnered on Thursday, inserted into Word docs and printed out on heavy stock paper on an hp 5220 in the wee hours to be placed in accordion folders to be disseminated and dropped through bleachers and recollected and pizza stained on Friday night only to be recycled after we were picked 18th, etc, blah blah blah.
Then there are the years where teams set up a local network all for naught. Extension cords searching for electrons or running off old Robot batteries through inverters. The list goes on and on, yadda, yadda, yadda.

If you are creative, Google forms allows Real Time updates that the drive team can use before each match. You can create visual outputs that are useful in making a pick list.

Less paper, happier scouts.
Disruptive technology in a good way.

Another Bonus: Scouts can speak specific comments or notes about a teams performance in a match and it will be logged in the survey.

[BitTwiddler]

Hmm, interesting concept. Need to research this further.

[Chris Endres]

Not exactly what you're looking for, but we used this last year, and it was infinitely better than paper and excel scouting.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=129763

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...light=WildRank

[Monochron]

Plan to not have access to internet. Showing up to a competition and realizing the internet isn't available and your scouting system rely's on it. Also probably plan to not have power outlets available in the stands, so some sort of runner system to keep things charged.
There are quite a few white papers around here on successful locally networked systems that you can find.

[Jalerre]

A scouting system that I have looked into but never used is Tableau. I have heard good things about it. From what I seen, its very powerful and customizable.

[Danimal!]

One of our students developed a phone-based Dozer scouting app that we used at the Orlando Regional as well as World Championships. It gave us a lot of valuable information and helped us to make some great picks. We were the 8th seated alliance in the Newton division, but because of the picks we made, we ended up placing 5th, just missing the semi-finals. Here's the link to the site as well as the repository.

https://riptiderobotics.com:3000/#/

[BitTwiddler]

Thanks to everyone who has provided input. It's good stuff. Please keep 'em coming. I promise to look them over. I am reading some of your white papers too.

I think I'm going to have to present some of your scouting solutions to the team leadership to see what they like best for this year.

[ShotgunNinja]

Originally Posted by Jalerre

A scouting system that I have looked into but never used is Tableau. I have heard good things about it. From what I seen, its very powerful and customizable.

That looks amazing! Why didn't we have this when I was in FIRST?

[BitTwiddler]

Originally Posted by ShotgunNinja

That looks amazing! Why didn't we have this when I was in FIRST?

Tableau is indeed an awesome data visualiztion tool to slice and dice the data in myriad ways to extract inferences from but it is not a scouting system per se. Not sure it's worth the learning curve associated with it. I think we'll want to keep it simple and focus on the important data to collect.

Mark Twain is often quoted as saying, "Data is like garbage, You'd better know what you are going to do with it before you collect it.". Now Mr. Twain may have never really said it but it's a good quote.

I'm still looking but I'm really impressed with what I'm seeing from some of you. You all have some truly awesome programmers on your teams.

[fovea1959]

Our students took Wildstang's Wildrank from 2014 and reworked it for the 2015 game. No dependency on internet (data gets around on a USB drive plugged into tablets). Need to streamline that, and figure out how to get the stuff to the drive coach easily.

Wildstangs did a good job of separating the data plumbing from the data items, changing it to record different metrics was pretty straightforward, I hear.

[logank013]

Originally Posted by BitTwiddler

Tableau is indeed an awesome data visualiztion tool to slice and dice the data in myriad ways to extract inferences from but it is not a scouting system per se. Not sure it's worth the learning curve associated with it. I think we'll want to keep it simple and focus on the important data to collect.

Mark Twain is often quoted as saying, "Data is like garbage, You'd better know what you are going to do with it before you collect it.". Now Mr. Twain may have never really said it but it's a good quote.

I'm still looking but I'm really impressed with what I'm seeing from some of you. You all have some truly awesome programmers on your teams.

My team is in the same situation. I have heard all about tableau but I'm not really sure what it's capable of. Is it just graphs or is it more? I can do many types of graphs in excel and sheets so I was just curious. Thanks

[solopilot]

Tableau is powerful, but you still need a system to gather and organize data. Try looking at http://gms.pejaver.com/UserGuide-Team.htm. It will soon get updated to use the 'new' v2 FRC API.

[jkoritzinsky]

I just wanted to chime in. I'm working on a modular scouting system for this season (and future seasons). I'll be a mobile app (for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone) combined with a desktop program (Windows only for now) that allows integration with either Excel or Tableau. I'm about 2/3 of the way done, and it'll be done by kickoff for sure. Each team will be able to define what data they want to collect for each season (or competition if they change what they want).

[Citrus Dad]

Originally Posted by Monochron

Plan to not have access to internet. Showing up to a competition and realizing the internet isn't available and your scouting system rely's on it. Also probably plan to not have power outlets available in the stands, so some sort of runner system to keep things charged.
There are quite a few white papers around here on successful locally networked systems that you can find.

We've been able to use Bluetooth and a couple of cell phone connections (for reliablity.)