Hi! With the Israeli districts moving to a stadium with no mobile phone data, I wonder how we can handle a scouting system without using internet? I am looking for a solution that doesn’t require making our own app.
sorry if this has been posted before, I couldn’t find any posts about it.
Thanks in advance!
I recommend Spamalytics. This system under it’s old name is what we used a version of from 2014-2016 and it still is our backup plan if our current system (google forms based) ever doesn’t work at a venue.
They typically post it in mid February but using last years as a base to make your own is where we started in 2014.
FRC Krawler should work offline if you download and setup the tablets/phones in advance to get event info.
The biggest reason most scouting apps need WiFi is to get the event schedule and teams list for each event. If you can supply that outside of the venue or pass it in offline manually that’s the best bet. The issue is match schedules aren’t made up til all teams pass initial checkin and may or may not be reliant on Inspection status as well.
You get a schedule once all teams have checked in. This could be the second morning after pit load in and setup after you are already at the event. If you could find somewhere near the venue or have someone coming slightly later download the info where there is data and then bring the tablets into the venue.
A relatively simple to execute but requires strong scouting discipline is the good old paper and pencil system. I used this with 33 a decade ago, and it worked well back then and will likely still work better than most, especially in an are without internet.
The system I liked had 1 sheet per team, and then a dedicated area for for each match with relevant metrics for the match, and an area for special comments. For District play, you need 12 zones for 12 matches (most events). Each Zone should have an area for Match number, initials of the scout, metrics you are wating to follow "shots taken, shots made in 3 pts or 2 point or…, number of cycles…
To do this system well, you will need 6 scouts scouting the matches and 1 “master scout” that hands out the sheets and gathers the sheets. Realistically, folks need breaks, so 2 master scouts and about 8 to 12 regular scouts are a much better arrangement.
This data capture method is pretty simple and pretty effective.
To make it even better, if you have someone inputting the data into some sort of database that can spit out important metrics, this can help automate the rack and stack.
As I am posting this, I see someone posted a similar sheet for SPAM. He is an old 33 sheet from 2011 I had put together along with some of the other helpful sheets like pick-lists. 2011 required a lot of robot scouting as well as Mini-bot scouting and Human player scouting to some degree. The HP scouting was less useful, but smart data and smart partner selection could lead to a color of tube starvation strategy that year which was pivotal in certain matches.
2011_SCOUTING_3.xls (234.5 KB)
We have used QRscout from FRC#2713 for a few years now. It uses a QR code scanner and doesn’t need any internet access while in the venue.
What I think that we need google forms ( what we used in 23’ ) alternative that can export a qr code that a computer can scan and add the answer to an excel
We use AppSheet, which is really just a configurable front-end user interface that stores data in a Google sheets document. So really, the app is effectively created for you after providing the desired fields.
The app system has an offline mode we use at competitions, which collects all the data locally and when internet is available, during lunch etc, everything gets uploaded and synchronized across all devices.
8033 is launching Lovat for open use this season, and we’d love to have more onboard testing its offline functionality. It’s a fully integrated system, and what separates it from most other scouting systems is that it’s a 1-tap setup - you download it from the App Store or install an APK and it just works.
Cassie on @frc8033 acct will follow up here later with the details on how it works offline if you’re interested. We had some beta testing campaigns if you want to see some other info 
This is Cassie the scouting/strategy lead from 8033. We are currently rebuilding the system, but keeping its offline functionality from last year. Each scouters data is stored in a QR code so it can be scanned and uploaded to the dashboard app at any point, such as each evening when you are able to connect to wifi.
One feature we are still trying to finish figuring out/implementing offline analysis on the dashboard app. Our current idea is to is temporarily store all of the analysis functions when the user needs to do so. This will work better later in the season because there will be more data available to everybody, so, users can walk into a venue with their data already downloaded for (some of) the teams they will be competing against.
We hope to get this feature done in time for 2024 week 1, however due to our complete system redesign this year we may end up releasing it in an update later during the season. To get email updates go to Lovat.app our website and sign up to join the waitlist.
What has worked best for us is to use either AppSheet (mentioned by someone else already) or Jotform (works quite similar) to create a low-or-no-code scouting data entry app that can be used on student phones. Both of these allow offline data entry, and once phones are in mobile signal range again, the data are transferred to the cloud and land in a Google sheet, where they can be processed and analyzed however you like.
Discussion from last year about low/no-code options, including these two
Our team uses our own app, however we use tablets connected via Ethernet to a central laptop server to collect data using simple HTTP requests. Our code is publicly available here if you’re interested in that solution.
Hey seg9585, could I get some more information on how you use the offline-mode/where to find it?
Here’s AppSheet in general which is a Google service:
Offline mode is a setting that allows the app to cache data until connected to the internet, here are the help files used to enable it in your app:
Viper: https://viperscout.com/ Our scouting system is the most advanced one that I’ve seen. Its 100% free open source software. There is a parts list to put the hardware for it together yourself.
In offline mode, six android tables or android phones (one for each robot) plug into USB ethernet to push data to a central battery powered server. They unplug to scout several matches and then come back to upload more.
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