[EWCP] 10-30-11 Cast - Scouting

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Alpha Beta

One more line of questioning for the cast. I've seen quality teams have mechanical failures or software/electrical issues in their final qualification match. Do your scouts generally cross them off the list or investigate in the pit the details of the malfunction?

We'll talk a lot about Saturday scouting in the podcast (it's something I personally think 2791 is very good at), but personally it depends on where they are on the list. If they're near the top, it takes a lot of thought. We'll go down to their pit and figure out what's going on and depending on their response we'll adjust them relative to other teams of their caliber.

Many teams are on the list for "flashes of greatness" and thus need to be thought about differently. Definitely marked down as high risk, but if the reward is high enough then we might want to take it. At CT in 2010, 173 had technical problems all of Friday that stemmed from a defective classmate PC, but they had a strong autonomous mode and consistent hang, setting up us for a relatively easy 4-6 points with their presence alone. Autonomous from the back zone was our priority for a second pick, and they had a hanger that we thought we could use. The position we were in called for a pick like them, so despite their faults we took the plunge. I'd certainly make that same pick again, as despite some ill timed failures they were a huge asset to the alliance.

So basically, you have to weigh their potential over the particulars of their failure and rank them relative to your teams on the board. This is a lot of "gut" work; once Saturday rolls around numbers can only do so much for you.

Oddly enough, sometimes we learn more about the team doing this than if they didn't break. I remember at some event a while back, one team took the time to explain to me exactly what went wrong and how they were planning to fix it for elims. We weren't even in an obvious position to pick them if I remember correctly, but the extra effort put in to communicate with us reassured me that they would be a good pick broken or not.

Do you take teams at their word when they say the problem will solved or do you ask to see proof?

This depends a lot on how vitally you need something. A good example would be an autonomous mode. If you're picking someone for their autonomous and their arm snapped off, I'd ask to see it if there was time.

If you're team is the one with the malfunction what can you do to let the other scouts know you'll be ready to play?

Be proactive in selling yourself. Find teams you think you would work well with and have a frank, down to earth discussion. No bragging.

Thanks for the great questions, and I'm sure all of us will go in depth this Sunday. Scouting is more or less my favorite topic in FRC.