I am curious to learn how many teams plan to track which defenses each team can go over, so that when you are selecting enemy defenses you can select the hardest defense for the opposing alliance.
As long as we have the man power*, our defense choices will be made based on the data we collect from on field performance and pit scouting.
*This is the only thing that makes it hard.
This is definitely something our team is doing, both with match and pit scouting.
This is a critical part of our scouting and match strategy. When selecting defenses, think about the position each team is playing in, as well as which defenses are easy for them to cross. Defense selection is only one part of the puzzle, strategic placement of them will also play a big role. Placing large defenses that block a teams view of the tower, or placing difficult defenses next to the low bar to create more congestion may be effective strategies.
This is definitely doable, and one of the most important reasons to scout this year. I encourage everyone to scout for this.
If you don’t have a system, there are plenty around Chief Delphi (here’s Dawgma’s: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/3225).
If you don’t have the people, try pit scouting. It’s less reliable data, but it beats nothing and you can do it while the rest of the team is setting up. Or even better, try a two-person match scouting system that tracks minimal data so two people can manage the load.
If our scouting team can
Writing rules for what drive bases are prone to failures in pit scouting. Failure to cross during match can be due to a lot of reasons. I think minimizing failure starts in the pits in this area.
I think the question will be “who isn’t collecting data.” Scouting is more important this season than ever before. We’re even making signs to hold up to our team to tell them which defense to cheer for every round. This game can literally be changed in your favor, even when you’re not in the match, I don’t know why you wouldn’t take advantage of that.
This is the big boost to scouting this year - scouting your opposition is directly useful information during qualifications. We were planning way more scouting this year than we’ve done previously during the fall, and this aspect of the game should make us stick to it.
Scouting this year, possibly more than any other year, can directly impact your chance to win a match. Knowing which defenses your opponents cannot handle will be a big part of FIRST Stronghold.
I believe this is important also, but I want to point out something that makes this less important than teams may think.
I would venture a guess that in 80%+ of matches we will see the same 5 defenses used. Because they are in pairs, in most cases there is a slightly harder one of the two for the regular team to cross.
For example I believe that the CDF will be one of the more rarely used ones as it’s partner the portcullis is generally going to be harder for teams to deal with. The same can be said for the Rockwall, Ramparts, and Sally port.
So while it will be good to collect data on all team and if there turns out to be a different one which is harder ( the moat comes to mind) the. By all means switch it up, but I still contend that the most of the changes we see will be in the position, and not which ones are actually used.
You’re voluntarily erecting a giant wall right in front of your drivers?
To be fair, like 85% of that wall is see through.
It’s going to be there anyway only 10 ft farther down the field. I believe that teams will most likey choose the hardest defenses for their apponents regardless of personal impact. Also teams need to realize that their vision is going to be totally blocked anyway, so hopefully they are well practiced at " driving blind"
Our team will deliver this type of data on a tablet to our drive team 4 matches in advance to all of our matches.
I hope to post a white paper when I can.
I will add a couple pieces of hard won advice. If you lack the people to do scouting, see if you can partner up with another team. We have always had sufficient numbers to scout, but are also always willing to work with and share data with other teams.
Also, put a lot more reliance on what you see on the field than in what your pit scouting tells you. I have lost track of the number of times someone from some team has said something like “they are using tank drive so they won’t be able to maneuver well enough” or “we never pick mecanum drive robots.” Without bothering to actually see how the robots perform on the field. In particular I remember once at QCR having a couple of teams say “Team X is doing well, but they are mecanum so we aren’t going to pick them. They will be too easy to defend. We are going to pick Y or Z.” So they did not pick a MUCH better performing robot.
I have found that looking at what teams actually show they can accomplish and how well they play the game is a much better way to scout than to ask them about what powers their drive train or how fast their robot is. We keep qualitative observations about the robots we observe in each match as well. Sometimes a note like “The driver has been able to consistently out-maneuver defenders” can be important when you are deciding match strategy or who to pick.
Finally, I think this is a year when you will want to scout the practice matches pretty well. A lot of teams will use practice matches to test their ability to go over different defenses, while in qualifying matches they will try to go to their strengths. I can easily see making a mistake of assuming a team has trouble with a particular defense because you don’t see them try that during qualifying.