So what's everyone's strategy/scouting plan for Nat's?

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Posted by colleen - T190 at 03/18/2001 10:11 PM EST


Engineer on team #190, Gompei, from Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science and WPI.



Now that we're all starting to learn from our experiences at regionals.. what does everyone think they'll change about their strategy/scouting ways for nat's?

Will your on-stage coaches/drivers/whoever negotiate with the teams the same or will they try a different approach?

Will you only scout your division or will you still try to scout ALL the teams?

Will your team share your scouting info w/ teams in other divisions for purposes of the finals? (to help others from having to scout everywhere)

Just wondering-- and don't be afraid to contact us over her on 190... being alliance coach (aka one who does negotiating) i'd really like to hear other people's perspective... and maybe our scouting team and yours can work something out ;-) (whether in the same OR different divisions)

--colleen

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Posted by Tom at 03/18/2001 10:35 PM EST


Student on team #25, Raider Robotix, from North Brunswick Township High School and Bristol Myers-Squib.


In Reply to: So what's everyone's strategy/scouting plan for Nat's?
Posted by colleen - T190 on 03/18/2001 10:11 PM EST:



We have not decided if we are going to scout the whole nationals or just our division just yet (probably some time this week, hopefully the whole thing, getting to know all the robots just makes the competition more exciting).

We do plan on sharing our data with other teams. Currently we are going to make print-outs or CD's for any team that wants them (they WILL be ready the seeding-round day). Also if anyone wants a copy through networking we will have that available as well.

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Posted by Ken Leung at 03/19/2001 2:26 AM EST


Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M. Gunn Senior High School.


In Reply to: So what's everyone's strategy/scouting plan for Nat's?
Posted by colleen - T190 on 03/18/2001 10:11 PM EST:



It seems like during the qualifying rounds, the 4 minutes before the match is good enough for us to learn about other robots and plan the game...

And it also seems like scouting data is only good when teams are picking alliance partners...

So, what do people think? How useful are the scouting data? And when are they most useful?

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Posted by Jeff W. at 03/19/2001 12:26 PM EST


Student on team #419, RAMBOTS, from Boston College High School and Don't think we actually have a sponsor.


In Reply to: are scouting data seems as useful as early prediction
Posted by Ken Leung on 03/19/2001 2:26 AM EST:



The Rambots have never ever scouted before. I guess we are big ninnies that are too lazy to do anthing.

Jeff

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Posted by Mike Soukup at 03/19/2001 10:43 AM EST


Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling and Motorola.


In Reply to: So what's everyone's strategy/scouting plan for Nat's?
Posted by colleen - T190 on 03/18/2001 10:11 PM EST:



Since I'm not a coach, I don't know much about how the negotiations work. But I do know quite a bit about the scouting. Near the beginning we realized that there's not much value added by scouting other divisions since you'll never be paired with them in qualification and you can't pick them for elims. Even in the elims, you really don't even play against them, you play against their score. So as long as you know what scores the alliance is capable of getting (which you'd find out by watching their first round), you can plan your strategy accordingly.

At Nationals instead of scouting other divisions, we're asking other teams to use our scouting program (WASH) & to put the data they collect in our database, which is then available to all through SOAP. This way, with a little (ok a lot) of work before Nats, we can scout our division while our partners scout their divisions and we get full coverage (and so does everyone else in FIRST if they want to see our data).

Mike

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Posted by Warren Boudreaux at 03/19/2001 12:38 PM EST


Engineer on team #180, S.P.A.M., from South Fork & Martin County High School and Pratt&Whitney.


In Reply to: So what's everyone's strategy/scouting plan for Nat's?
Posted by colleen - T190 on 03/18/2001 10:11 PM EST:



We are planning on scouting just the division. What I am trying to find out is if we are going to know who is in which division during the practice rounds.

Do you or anyone else know when we will be informed?

Many teams are working very hard on scouting databases. I am trying to get one of the students to load up our team info on as many of these as we can so that when we go to Nationals, we can get access to the data and others will know who we are.

So many teams, so little time.

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Posted by Jessica Boucher at 03/19/2001 3:01 PM EST


Student on team #237, Sie-H2O-Bots, from Watertown High School and Eastern Awning Systems & The Siemon Company.


In Reply to: Re: So what's everyone's strategy/scouting plan for Nat's?
Posted by Warren Boudreaux on 03/19/2001 12:38 PM EST:



: We are planning on scouting just the division. What I am trying to find out is if we are going to know who is in which division during the practice rounds.

: Do you or anyone else know when we will be informed?

Heck, they havent even posted an agenda for Nationals yet....

-Jessica B, #237

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Posted by colleen - T190 at 03/19/2001 4:13 PM EST


Engineer on team #190, Gompei, from Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science and WPI.


In Reply to: Re: So what's everyone's strategy/scouting plan for Nat's?
Posted by Warren Boudreaux on 03/19/2001 12:38 PM EST:



A group of us spoke to Eric at kickoff-- at the time all he could say is something to the effect of "we can't make divisions until we know exactly who showed up" because teams sometimes sign up and then don't come.. the impression i got from that and the conversation that ensued was that we would find out Friday morning when you got your match sheets..

I know that will take away a lot from people.. and maybe FIRST has a different plan going on.. but I think it would be to everyone's benefit to have at least "tentative" divisions at nationals.. and then if a significant number of teams don't show up.. they can randomly move one or two teams around to ensure the divisions are kept as even as possible

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Posted by Warren Boudreaux at 03/19/2001 4:50 PM EST


Engineer on team #180, S.P.A.M., from South Fork & Martin County High School and Pratt&Whitney.


In Reply to: Last word was at kickoff...
Posted by colleen - T190 on 03/19/2001 4:13 PM EST:



I am guessing that they will use the very complicated method of 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4. You're right about adjusting at the last minute for balancing the divisions. I'm just trying to avoid scouting 300+ teams during the practice rounds. I sent an e-mail to Eric. I'll post the answer when it comes in.