Requirements- What Data to Collect?

[Ken Patton]

Since this is an area of great interest to me I would like to put in my 2 cents.

First of all, the comments that Mike Soukup made re:scouting are worth rereading - he is making good points from an experience base that few of us have. One key point is that ease-of-recording, simplicity, clarity - whatever you want to call it - is a huge factor in getting high-quality data from multiple sources.


A couple of people have suggested categories of scouting data - I agree, and suggest the following four categories:

1. ROBOT FEATURES - descriptions of the hardware/software based on observations prior to or during events; can be self-submitted or objectively observed by others
Example: # of drive motors

2. ROBOT RATINGS - subjective ratings made based on observations of actual robot performance during practice or matches; require consistent observation and the judgement of dedicated scouts
Example: Pushing Ability (1=poor, 5=great)

3. ROBOT RESULTS - specific outcomes that must be observed during practice or matches; require consistent observation by dedicated scouts
Example: First to the top (yes/no); Defend Top (yes/no); Tallest Stack Made (#bins)

4. MATCH INFO - basic match data taken from FIRST match listings and match results
Example: Match Points (#points)

I think all the gathered data will fall into one of these categories. What do you think?

Ken