Advice for a hapless rookie?

[Wayne C.]

Originally Posted by Sila741

Hel-lo. Right now I am going three kinds of crazy trying to make my schedule work, and i got chosen to be my teams scout. I have no idea what i am doing though. I have heard about stamp, and the network, but one i don't know how to work, and the other i can't find. The competitions in 10 days, and i afraid of turning up with nothing. Can anyone give a few tips, or something?

Sila-
scouting is probably best as a team effort and it is VERY important this year. You should determine what YOUR robot can and cannot do and use those strengths and weaknesses to search out potential partners that can supplement your skills to effectively play the game.

There are lots of sophisticated programs out there that teams use. But there are many teams that use a clipboard and homemade questionnaires with facts they would like to know about the others so they can find the best matches. I am sure CD white papers have some. You can pm me if you need one and I'll send you ours.

Some other observations that may be helpful-

1. people tend to overestimate the abilities of their own robots (rose colored glasses syndrome) . Be polite but dont take their words at face value. Get some actual numbers from your own assessments.

2. Therefore- be sure to watch the rounds where the other teams play under different circumstances. Do they function reliably? Or do they do the job once in a while?

3. Look for quality and robustness in the machines that will assure they survive to the end of the day.

4. Look for teams that work with others as partners. Sometimes we see teams who insist on doing things their way only- despite repeated failures.

5. plan to spend Friday compiling data and get a ranking report ready for your team Friday night for Sat morning. Update it during the day Sat and be ready before 11 so you have a good set of 20 partner picks in order.

6. Work with your drive teams and go over the picks early so that your rep will have a handicap sheet to check off at the lunchtime picking session.
As the picks are made- if you are a part of the picking 8- you check off the taken ones and it is evident who you have left to work with.

Even if your team isn't one of the top eight a good scouting effort can help the team that picks you immensely. A good alliance will include all three teams' knowledge in playing their elimination game.

Our team generally assigns every first year member to a scouting team and we use this to teach them what robots are all about. The drivers rarely have time to look over the guts of all the machines and see the weak spots. You can save the day and maybe pick up some tips for next year's machine by looking at the ideas of the other teams.

Again- if you want our head scouts to talk to just PM me and I'll hook you up. You can do this and it is a lot of fun.

WC

[Sila741]

Wayne, thanks for the offer, but i don't think i will need it after all. Our partner teams scouts have been training me a bit, also letting me look at thier old scouting sheets.

[Bill Moore]

Originally Posted by Wayne C.

Sila-
scouting is probably best as a team effort and it is VERY important this year. You should determine what YOUR robot can and cannot do and use those strengths and weaknesses to search out potential partners that can supplement your skills to effectively play the game.

There are lots of sophisticated programs out there that teams use. But there are many teams that use a clipboard and homemade questionnaires with facts they would like to know about the others so they can find the best matches. I am sure CD white papers have some. You can pm me if you need one and I'll send you ours.

Some other observations that may be helpful-

1. people tend to overestimate the abilities of their own robots (rose colored glasses syndrome) . Be polite but dont take their words at face value. Get some actual numbers from your own assessments.

2. Therefore- be sure to watch the rounds where the other teams play under different circumstances. Do they function reliably? Or do they do the job once in a while?

3. Look for quality and robustness in the machines that will assure they survive to the end of the day.

4. Look for teams that work with others as partners. Sometimes we see teams who insist on doing things their way only- despite repeated failures.

5. plan to spend Friday compiling data and get a ranking report ready for your team Friday night for Sat morning. Update it during the day Sat and be ready before 11 so you have a good set of 20 partner picks in order.

6. Work with your drive teams and go over the picks early so that your rep will have a handicap sheet to check off at the lunchtime picking session.
As the picks are made- if you are a part of the picking 8- you check off the taken ones and it is evident who you have left to work with.

Even if your team isn't one of the top eight a good scouting effort can help the team that picks you immensely. A good alliance will include all three teams' knowledge in playing their elimination game.

Our team generally assigns every first year member to a scouting team and we use this to teach them what robots are all about. The drivers rarely have time to look over the guts of all the machines and see the weak spots. You can save the day and maybe pick up some tips for next year's machine by looking at the ideas of the other teams.

Again- if you want our head scouts to talk to just PM me and I'll hook you up. You can do this and it is a lot of fun.

WC

Excellent advice from a longtime veteran of FIRST.

Begging Wayne's pardon, but the list in #5 should have at least 24 teams (minimum number of teams in the playoffs).

I would also add that if you find yourselves picking, evaluate the teams ranked higher than you as well. Just because a team finished ahead of you doesn't mean the two robots work together well. Too many teams get caught up in the emotion "They picked us #1", and don't take time to consider if it is a good matchup or not. Be prepared to graciously accept or decline the selection; don't look quizzically into the stands for help from your team. It's too late to consider the pairing at that point.

If you follow Wayne's advice, you are guaranteed to have a top-notch scouting effort, whichever regional you attend.

Good Luck with your robot!