Collecting Info + Managing Scouts

[ffbgirl15]

Originally Posted by EricH

I've seen one sheet per driver's station for about 6 matches. 6 sheets covers all the stations for 6 matches or so, turn in for a new sheet, repeat.

It depends on the layout of the scouting input areas, though. Try to have each sheet last for multiple matches.

I feel so dumb now, I didn't realize I made a typo in my comment. We usually do one sheet per TEAM. not match. Is there any specific way you guys choose which teams are on each sheet?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by ffbgirl15

I feel so dumb now, I didn't realize I made a typo in my comment. We usually do one sheet per TEAM. not match. Is there any specific way you guys choose which teams are on each sheet?

We'd organize the sheets by driver's station. Print ahead of time with blanks for match/team, and once the official schedule is out, fill in each sheet by running down a column. After entering the data, we'd sort by team.

The team I was on at that time has since moved to other, more advanced methods of collecting the data.

[artK]

It's been a while since I last scouted, but a few points that I always like to note.

1.) Pit Scouting: It is oftentimes a simple task that teams will make unnecessarily complicated. For the most part, you should be able to simply observe anything worth noting during pit scouting. Take a photo, write down notes about the drivetrain (dedicate 1 or 2 experienced people to rate them), note any dimensions that may be relevant in the game (Can it fit under the pyramid, or drive wide on the bridge?). Be friendly with the people on the team you're scouting (If this is not the hardest part, your system may be too complicated).

2.) Motivation/Shifts: How you run your shifts really depends on how many people you have and how long you can keep the best scouts in your rotation. Motivating scouts is much trickier, but usually positive reinforcement is the way to go. Water, Cookies, Stickers, SimBucks, being allowed to attend the scouting meeting are all ways that have been used to motivate the scouts by teams that I knew scouted well.

As far as dealing with the external and personal stress (which OP mentioned in one of his posts), you get used to it as you run more events as scouting lead. Identify what stresses you out (Because in my experience the source is usually the same few things), then take measures to minimize it.

[GeeTwo]

I've noticed that a lot of scouting advice (not only on this thread) is geared towards alliance selection for the playoff (formerly elimination) matches. As a mentor for a team that has done a horrendous job of scouting our first three years (the first two years our efforts were barely up to half-hearted, and last year, we didn't actually use any of the data collected so that anyone would notice): How much do you feed scouting info into the qualification (formerly seeding) matches? If you do use scouting info for qualification/seeding, when and how do you deliver the appropriate up-to-date scouting info on the six teams involved (three opponents, two alliance partners, and yourself) to your driver team, where the info would be of use for planning match strategy?

Back to the general scouting process, I'm figuring that this year with reduced interaction between the alliances, the scouting info on the other alliance's teams can be limited to four(composite) questions, in approximate order of importance:

1. What do they bring to coopertition? Zero, One, or three totes? If one or three, can they "complete" a stack of four, or just originate it?
2. How quickly do they get the RCs off the step? (seconds to first, seconds to fourth, average number per match)
3. How quickly do they get the totes off the step? (seconds to first, seconds to twelfth, average number per match)
4. How capable is each team's HP as a "spear chucker" (throwing debris over the wall onto the other side of field)?

The info on the alliance would include these, as well as the following, again in approximate priority order:

• How high (and fast) can each team consistently place an RC?
• Does each team have a history of knocking over stacks, committing fouls, or getting in the way of alliance partners?
• How fast can each team clear the landfill?
• How efficiently can each team work an HP station?
• How high can each team stack totes?
• Can each team get a noodle in/on the RCs? How fast?
• (How fast) can each team deal with inverted totes?
• (How fast) can each team deal with totes on a long/short side?
  
• How capable/fast is each team at processing litter?

Please advise if I missed something important or you believe that I got priorities seriously out of order.

[New Lightning]

Gee Two, your reasoning is solid. It depends on how you scout if you use the information in the seeding matches. The best way to use the information during the prelims is to have some way of compiling the data electronically. That can be using a scouting app or your own computer based system, or it could be a paper system that you feed the data into a computer after every match. Because its electronics you can quickly analyze past performance and that can help your drive team.

Obviously you won't have any current data for the first match and maybe not even by the second, but by the third match you should have a least a little understanding of what the other teams can do and that can be very helpful in planning for your upcoming match.

Then when you have the data compiled you send a runner, preferably your scouting lead student who knows the most about what is going on, down to the pit with the information and let your drive team know.

[GeeTwo]

Thanks for the insight as to logistics - particularly that the compilation doesn't need to take place in the pits, which is obvious once it is stated. We can compile the numbers in the stands, where the scouts are.

I'm wondering if we can make the scouting form look a bit like a standardized test, with lines or bubbles to fill, so we can take a picture of it and OCR that into a spreadsheet; it sounds easier and more recoverable than a scouting app, especially as our venue is known for poor cell signal.