Sharing information - not a good idea?

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by bduddy

In past FRC games, most teams have shared information about their own robots fairly freely with other teams, both to assist scouting and just as a general courtesy. However, in this game, alliances have a direct ability, through choosing defenses, to affect how difficult it is for the other alliance to gain points. Therefore, if I was in the pits and heard "What defenses can your robot cross?" or even "What does that arm do?" early on Friday, I'd think twice before answering... especially if I glanced at the schedule and saw that the team asking was a future opponent.

Any thoughts? Am I just overly competitive, or is this going to be a real issue?

We've found pre-scouting to be a waste of time, except for taking pictures. Often teams inflate their own abilities or give inaccurate statements. That's not a negative on teams: it's just that they see that they completed some task in practice and decide they can do it in a real match. Or sometimes they just have a overly optimistic view of how good their robot might be.

If they don't do it in a match, then we assume they can't do it. Unless it's a team you know well and who has proven to be trustworthy in assessing their own abilities.