Computer-Assisted Scouting

[Kristian Calhoun]

You may also want to take a look at this thread which discusses paper vs. computer scouting and the different methods which teams use. This past year, our computer scouting program was written in Java. Scouts recorded the statistics of each robot per match [each student was assigned a specific robot starting position (i.e center red, left blue, etc.) and at the beginning of each match, they'd record the team number, and fill out the sheet for that particular team's robot throught the course of the match. The papers would be collected and immediately entered into our scouting program. Once inputted, the program would analyze the data and could sort it into whatever form we needed (specific individual team stats, power rankings and lists of rankings based on different things such as number of 3 pt balls scored in auto, number of total balls scored (3pt/1pt), wins/loses, percentages, etc).

Besides match scouting, we also had scouts go down to the pits with digital cameras and take pictures of each teams robot. We then imported all the pics into Google's Picasa and labeled them.

This method of scouting proved to be extremely reliable, helpful, and accurate. At any time during the competition, the drive team could call a member of the scouting crew, and ask for any kind of information. We could then either tell them the info over the phone, or print it out and have someone run it down to the pits.

This is what our head scout, Neil Parikh, had to say about our scouting program in the aforementioned thread which I linked to.

Originally Posted by nparikh

Team 25 has finally moved into the future. For as long as I've been on the team, since the '04 season, we've used regular paper scoutings sheets + a filling bin...yay for that.

But after getting frustrated with having over 1200 sheets of paper to store, etc, by the end of 2 regionals, we've finally moved over to a paper/computer system.

Yes, our scouts do record information on scouting sheets (one for the match, one specifically for autonomous)...then that data gets fed into our amazing Scouting Program for analysis, output, and just about everything else under the blue moon!

This year I happened to notice that about 5 of us Robotics kids were in the AP Computer Science Class, and I figured, what a neat way to get hands on experience coding Java & we'd get a really neat scouting program. Regardless, we worked tirelessly with the help of Mrs. Morris (our computer science teacher who spent loads of time designing + perfecting it), it was done in time for the NJ Regional.

In addition, we have 2 video cameras taping matches and a photo team that gets pictures of every robot. These are fed into Google's Picasa for labeling, viewing, and searching.

We pride ourselves on the fact that about 95% of the data we collect is pure statistics, leaving out a significant portion of error and uncertainty that occurs with opinionated scouting. Luckily, I've got about 8-10 people that work hard and long all through the competition making sure we have accurate data, footage and pictures.

When the system was finally put into use at NJ & Las Vegas, it proved to be incredibly successful in helping us find the best robots, and also for helping to develop strategy for rounds. At both regionals, we made our scouting data available to any team who wished to take a look through it.

So yeah, we use computer + paper scouting. Paper means we always have a backup. Computers mean we have amazing speed & efficiency when looking up information. I don't think we'll ever look back