On a whole, the best strategy for scouting is “observation scouting”, where you observe the running teams from the stands. In stead of rating them on what they say they can do, rate them on what they were able to do on the field. Using this idea, we rated a teams reliabillity in different aspects of the game. I found this very effective because I knew which teams I could count on and the ones I should wary of.
~Hubicki~
I fully agree that “observational scouting” is really the most reliable source of information about a team. Certain pit data is obviously dependable i.e. drive train components, etc., however gathering data during actual match play gives one the “Big Picture”. Our team (312) will be using our new OS palm database during the seeding matches to collect data on the teams in our division. I believe your team is also in our division and we would be happy to share our palm program with your team. If you have a PDA with cradle, stop by our pit and we will provide you with our program.
I agree it is best to form your own opinion of what a team can/can’t do by observing them. Here are a few other helpful tips.
Pay particular attention to what a team is doing during the PRACTICE ROUNDS! That is where a team will show what it is capable of doing. However boring it may be to watch practice rounds, it is important to watch ALL of them. A team may only showcase a particular strategy one time, and never use it again until the elims!
One example comes to mind in Long Island. During the practice rounds, team 56 was AWESOME! I ranked them very high. They were fast and could grab two goals, pick up balls and score balls (although I wasn’t wild about the ball delivery, it did work). However, during the seeding matches, they didn’t show all of their capabilities and our other scouts didn’t have them rated as high as I did. When it came time for us to pick, myself and another scout had them rated the highest available team, however we were out-voted and we chose another team. Well, lo and behold, team 56 was the very next selection and when they played in the elims, they were VERY strong! The comments from the other scouts were ‘we didn’t know they were THAT good’! even ‘Wow wouldn’t we LOVE to have them as our partner’! So, watch the pratice rounds.
Also, when you start narrowing down your list, walk through the pit area between matches. If a team is constantly fixing something on their robot, beware! Remember in the elims there isn’t a lot of time in between matches, and you don’t want a robot that is always in need of repair.
Good luck!