Who else uses scouting sheets?

[JC-75]

I know a lot of teams have elaborate computer and video systems set up at events for scouting purposes, but Team 75 typically uses scouting sheets with robot information not just for getting information in the pits, but also for recording match info, observation of autonomous code behavior, etc. Is anyone else going old school with paper scouting sheets for recording this vast variety of information?

[akshar]

1568 also scouts old school

[Gene Williams]

Teams 70 and 494 also scout with scouting sheets. We've done it this way for years. We have talked about going high tech but just haven't made the leap.

[JAH]

Team 234 uses scouting sheets. For a while we were using computers and what not but it became too complex and it's not something you could just pick up and run over to the drive team with so we've gone back to paper. It's the easiest to use and understand for our team. We scout old school...ooh yeah!

[GlitterRave113]

Haha, ya, we, team 433, also use scouting sheets. I think this is partially because none of us would want to carry a computer around...but that's just me, so maybe not.

[AcesPease]

Aces High uses scouting sheets. We also have computer programs for fast statistical rankings, but we don't know how to get comments and autonomous maps into the computer, quickly. Also, with six robots on the field, we do not have enough computers for each robot.

[Vexkingof716]

Team 716 has always used scouting sheets. It wouldn't be any other way.

[Andy Baker]

Team 45 uses scouting sheets.

In 2000-2002, we were in on the scouting collaboration plan, with GMCIA, SOAP & WASH. Also, we've done scouting with Palm Pilots.

After some frustration with those systems, we went back to paper scouting and have not looked back. I think that the thing that ended up making us switch was a crashed computer on a Saturday morning, leaving us with no data at all during alliance picking.

I've heard about some reliable and robust computer-based systems that work well for teams. While that is great for some teams, it is not good for us at this point.

Andy B.

[CmptrGk]

Originally Posted by Vexkingof716

Team 716 has always used scouting sheets. It wouldn't be any other way.

not every year, we found out about it quite early on though. (andy and jaine would remember pre-scouting sheet days the most, but we have all heard the stories.)

[dhitchco]

Our team uses paper-based scouting forms (one for pre-match pit scouting and one for in-match team scouting). This year, we have been using a scanning packaging (ReMark OMR software) to optically-recognize the filled-in circles (e.g sacel of 1-5 for driving ability) which dumps all the match scouting forms into an Excel database.

We pride ourself on the use of this type of technology to augment our FIRST experience. It's been a great learning lesson for students and mentors.

Whatever system you use, just be sure that you're asking questions that are really IMPORTANT. many teams ask a whole bunch of silly questions that really have no bearing on alliance partnerhship selection process.

ps: we used this same software during build season to do timecards for every student, mentor and adult to track when and on what "department" we were spending all our time...

[Bill Moore]

MOE 365 uses scouting sheets. We've played a bit with doing something electronic, but it doesn't fit too well with the method of scouting we do. (We even have a Wi-Fi hub powered by one of the robot batteries -- should last all day at a competition, if we ever decide to use it.)

Electronically, we could capture all the empirical data, but we also want to read the opinions of the scouts as well. If they see something that might suggest another robot's weakness, even if not demonstrated in a match, we want to know that. The next person scouting that team can watch to see if that is indeed a weakness.

We do not assign teams to the scouts. Last year, we assigned times (i.e., 10:00 - 11:00 Friday) to individuals, and whichever teams were competing then were scouted by them. This way, you get multiple points of view on each robot and a better overall picture of its' capabilities and weaknesses.

[AndyB]

We do scouting sheets. We honestly don't really care much about pit scouting. We do do a little bit. We scout a ton during the matches and have 1 student/mentor/parent take a robot and scout them for that match. Then we have one person as the organizer, who collects the sheets, organizes them into the pile, and then hands out new sheets. This system works pretty well as long as you have enough people to do it.

Unlike a lot of other scouting sheet systems I have seen, we only have 1 sheet per bot. This makes it a lot easier for when we are in a hurry.

Then, if we are in a picking position for the next day, that night, we either:

1.) Have me go through all of the sheets and write up a scouting report for each of them.

2.) Go through the sheets as a team, black listing teams (lol), brown listing teams, and gold listing teams. We also try to rank the top defensive teams we see as well. We did this at Nationals this year, so I don't know if it will stick. After we ranks the teams, I spend the night writing a scouting report on the teams and decide which ones we need more info on.

Then about an hour or so before the picking, I meet up with our team leader(s) and we decide a final ranking sheet for the top 20 or so bots for offense, and the top 7-8 teams for defense (Nationals). At regionals, since there are a lot less teams, we rank all of the teams.

[Nita]

Team 1190 uses scouting sheets as well.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Well... 648 uses scouting sheets. Both pit and stand/match. They are then entered into a statistical database using Excel. This year we accurately counted the number of balls made by a single robot, how defensively minded a team was, the speed of a shooter, and their autonomous tendencies. I would post more info but the system is kinda secretive until perfected, I suppose. Ed does a great job on it every year. And thanks to the students that input the info into the computers. The data helps a lot as a coach.

[Graham Donaldson]

You can count 1676 in for this year at Palmetto as well, however we merged the two, comps and paper. Round-to-round scouting was done on papers, which then came to me at the top of the stadium for compilation. The team by team stats were printed out before each round and run down to the drive team for planning. Next year we want to develop a system that can be on a network we set up that can be accessed by the drive team in the pits on a laptop that can get a wireless signal. When a person scouts a team, after he is done he will save the info on the server and it will automatically appear on the screens it should. This is how I want to see it, but I don't know how it will work out. Our district (Pascack Valley Regional High School District in upper Bergen County, NJ) gives each student a SONY VAIO laptop with wireless access, so this makes this system much easier for us. Anyways, that's how I want to do it. But you can never beat paper for quick, flawless transfer of data (why do computers crash???)

The Canuck