How many times do you scout a team???

[zant1234]

Hey everyone. I'm my team's scout captain this year and I was just wondering, at competition how many matches do you scout a team for?

[EricH]

As many as possible. There is no such thing as too much data on a given team.

[Zuelu562]

Originally Posted by EricH

As many as possible. There is no such thing as too much data on a given team.

Precisely. Our team has decided to pit scout, game scout and re-pit scout if necessary.

Keep an eye on the list of teams at your regional, some veterans may be slacking, and some rookies might be dominating. Don't write off a rookie team just because they are rookies.

[zant1234]

As many as possible. There is no such thing as too much data on a given team.

I feel like if we were to scout all 40 teams like 6 times then we would 240 sheets of paper with information that we would have to sift through and it wouldn't be very helpful. Also let it be known that my team isn't very big we have about 20 people on our team and the ones that can scout will not want to do it all day.

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by zant1234

I feel like if we were to scout all 40 teams like 6 times then we would 240 sheets of paper with information that we would have to sift through and it wouldn't be very helpful.

Having information for every team for every match is very helpful. It lets you see how a team progressing. Is there a team that is progressivly getting better or maybe even getting worse?

It is a lot of work to sift through all the information, but after spending 6 weeks to build the robot, I think its worth it to spend a little more time to give yourself the best chance at winning. Many teams have developed fancy computer programs or other systems to avoid having to go through all those sheets.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by zant1234

I feel like if we were to scout all 40 teams like 6 times then we would 240 sheets of paper with information that we would have to sift through and it wouldn't be very helpful. Also let it be known that my team isn't very big we have about 20 people on our team and the ones that can scout will not want to do it all day.

You can fit more than one team onto a sheet. And let it be known that 330 has been known to scout every single match, for 6 robots, at one person per robot, and this would be with about 15-20 people (not just team members).

And two of those people were entering data into a computer.

[DonRotolo]

To expand on Eric's post: Every team, every match.

[Waffles]

1511 scouts every match

We do pit scouting and match scouting (yes, EVEN finals & matches we're in!). This way we can line up all the actually information. Pit scouting is good, just to get an idea of what teams have as far as robots. We always say that seeing is much better than just listening to the numbers

Hope this helps!

[delsaner]

We have two different types of scouting.

1) Pit Scouting: Our students go into the pits to get specific information from each team at the regional in regards to their robot. (Drivetrain, autonomous modes, 1 or 2 speed motors, etc.)

2) Match Scouting (the one that holds more weight): Other students will sit in the scouting recording match data, and how a specific robot performs. We typically have six students doing the scouting, and they are rotated every now and then.

We handle scouting very seriously, as that helps us figure out who exactly are the top performers at the competitions, so we try and get as much information and data as we can.

[Dancin103]

Originally Posted by EricH

As many as possible. There is no such thing as too much data on a given team.

Definitely as many as possible. We do at least one time for every match a team plays between Friday and Saturday.

[Jeff Waegelin]

Originally Posted by zant1234

Hey everyone. I'm my team's scout captain this year and I was just wondering, at competition how many matches do you scout a team for?

All of them. You never know when a team that has been struggling all day Friday will "get it together" on Saturday (or worse, fall apart as the competition wears on)...

[Shane L]

We tend to scout a team all threw the competition.

[Patrickwhite]

As has been said, more data is always (always) better. If you're worried about having too much paper to sift through consider having one of your programmers do up a scouting program, or at least get good at inputting the data to [your favourite spreadsheet program].

[zant1234]

Wow thanks everyone...you have given me some good ideas for scouting, now I just have to convince my team to let me do it

[TheOtherTaylor]

If you don't scout every team at every match, you won't be able to track progress. A low ranking team that suddenly fixes a part and scores twice as much as usual in their final matches would make an excellent, if underrated, alliance partner.

Even if you are not the picking alliance, you should have a ranked list of preferred picks of every single team at the regional.