Oh, boy, scouting will be difficult this year!

[Ian Curtis]

I'd highly recommend some sort of quantitative system (i.e. keeping track of balls scored by Team XXXX) vs. a qualitative system (i.e. Team XXXX scored a bunch of balls). That way you always have an objective observer, and people's personal bench marks for "good", "bad", "awesome" don't interfere with your data. Not to mention, it makes it way easier to plan match strategy, both in terms of your opposition and your partners.

Everyone overstates the capabilities of their robot. We don't do it intentionally, there's just a lot of pride and worked wrapped up in these magnificent machines. So, it's really helpful to your alliance when you know that team XXXX has actually been averaging Y orbit balls, instead of the Z they told you. Also, it's really cool to see how you stack up on Friday night.

That said, handwritten notes really round out your data. Not everything is obvious in the averages. These handwritten notes can push you to examine spectacular teams you may have missed otherwise.

Also cell phones. I live in the dark ages, and have yet to purchase one. But on Friday/Saturday, they are a total lifesaver. I can't carry around all of our scouting data in my backpack. But the scouting team in the stands can look anything up while we wait for our match to start. It's really, really nice.

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by iCurtis

I'd highly recommend some sort of quantitative system (i.e. keeping track of balls scored by Team XXXX) vs. a qualitative system (i.e. Team XXXX scored a bunch of balls). That way you always have an objective observer, and people's personal bench marks for "good", "bad", "awesome" don't interfere with your data. Not to mention, it makes it way easier to plan match strategy, both in terms of your opposition and your partners.

Everyone overstates the capabilities of their robot. We don't do it intentionally, there's just a lot of pride and worked wrapped up in these magnificent machines. So, it's really helpful to your alliance when you know that team XXXX has actually been averaging Y orbit balls, instead of the Z they told you. Also, it's really cool to see how you stack up on Friday night.

That said, handwritten notes really round out your data. Not everything is obvious in the averages. These handwritten notes can push you to examine spectacular teams you may have missed otherwise.

Also cell phones. I live in the dark ages, and have yet to purchase one. But on Friday/Saturday, they are a total lifesaver. I can't carry around all of our scouting data in my backpack. But the scouting team in the stands can look anything up while we wait for our match to start. It's really, really nice.

For the years I did scouting for my team, I made sure to focus mostly on numbers and data for the one-team sheets, although I did have a "rank-out-of-5" section. Last year, though, I printed out a sheet (double-sided) with every team name and number next to it, so I could keep it on a clipboard and write little comments myself. We weren't anywhere close to picking, of course, but it would have helped, especially considering that I forgot alliance selection was during lunch, not after