this is our pit scouting sheet. if you decide to use it, just credit it in the forum below
(Edit) This is only the pit scouting data, later this season, I will release our stand scouting system. It will be a google docs sheet that is run offline and updated after every 10 matches
Not sure if this would be an âadditional notesâ thing, or I just like data, but I would suggest some other quick questions such as:
Can you fit under the WoF?
Where can/how far can you shoot from?
Do you have ground pickup?
Im thinking about this as a former driver/current drive coach. I like to have as much data as possible about teams, without having too much. Small questions like this may seem unnecessary, but could be very useful if youre on a tough alliance, as you may not be able to outscore the other alliance, but if you know how their robot works, you may be able to better predict where they might go on the field, and be able to adjust to that.
Thank you!
Kaitlyn
Edit:
I remember last year, our team also asked a question like what do you prefer/what are you most comfortable doing during a match. A question like this could be very useful. While a team may be able to shoot into the high goal, they may be more comfortable only doing the low goal. Same concept applies to the post below me:
Asking what a team is comfortable with can go a long way.
Iâve just started thinking about scouting, but already these are two of the most important out scouting questions to me (along with CP/WoF control). Itâs two things that are easy for anyone on the team to answer and easy to verify from watching matches. They also donât have much if any wiggle room for answering passing under CP/WoF: many pit scouting questions (for example, floor pickup) are answered as âyesâ when the answer is really âhopefully it worksâ.
Usually, Iâve found a âyesâ means âno but we thought of it during kickoff and didnât do itâ or âthis is my first day on the team so Iâm gonna make up a correct-sounding answer.â
Pit scouting is an interesting beast given that most teams try to collect objective data but their information source is not objective or factual by any means.
This sounds frustrating. I havenât had this issue too often, generally if a team says they can do something at least they have a mechanism that is intended to do it in the pit. @Kaitlynmm569 is reminding us why sheâs the scouting master though: âwhat are you comfortable withâ sounds like a great idea that I can almost already guarantee weâll be using this year.
Many teams (mine included, for quite some time) do not have the resources to be able to effectively match scout. For some, questions like this could be important to at least get an idea of what a team could do, reliable or not. Data could then be changed, and notes could be made, after a match with said team to accommodate for inaccurate information.
My personal opinion is that a single, well-trained team member who watches matches for 3 hours with a notepad will have better notes that whatever you can get from pit scouting. Most teams can afford at least one member for half of the first qualification day.
There are obviously exceptions to this and not all pit data is bad. Generally, though, Iâve found pit data to be pretty unhelpful. I find it is a much better usage of everyoneâs time to send drive teams around to get to know each other and scout the vibe of the team. In other words, use the time to mingle and build relationships, rather than get data with a certain (high) amount of inaccuracy.
Just a thought.
Why not do both? I know when we sent our scouts out to pit scout, we try to encourage them to have a conversation, not just spit questions. I do the same. You can pit scout, but mingle at the same time. Take a couple seconds, shake the personâs hand, ask their name, etc. Get talking. Ask a question or two on the form, but then pause. Comment or discuss what they just said for a few minutes. Doing this with someone can go a long way. Thereâs no reason you canât gather data while making friends.
I would ask their robot weight including bumpers and battery! Just because those are factors that will be involved when trying to keep the Generator Switch level.
Agreed, this might be the year we finally ask for this.
I didnât even think of that. That will definitely be in our form!
I would highly recommend relying on limited match data rather than a pit conversation before competition. One of the most critical parts of scouting is accurately knowing what you are working with and up against and unfortunately pit conversations contribute very little to this. They are good at building relationships between teams, but I would try and find options to get better real time data.
Last year we added a poaition we call engineering scout. This is usually a student and mentor who cruise the pits seeking out really cool stuff teams have done, do a deeper dive with that teams students and mentors, inspect the component, get pictures, etc. Not only do we get good insight on things maybe we havent done yet (swerve with 2910 or 2471), but teams love to talk about what differentiates them from others and is great for relationship buildingâŚso the benefits are two-fold.
No offense intended but questions like this are typically useless. Let the on field data tell you this stuff.
I would agree with this. Sadly, this isnât always possible. Donât get me wrong, I understand the âriskâ with pit data. But there are many things that could cause pit data to be the only option, at least temporarily. As I mentioned above, some teams donât have the resources to match scout. Sure, most teams probably could send out 1-2 students, but some still canât. Week 1 events, or a teamâs first event, is also another issue. There may be no match data to go off of. You may at least want something to go off of if youre going to be in a match with a team.
Where they shoot from, sure, I could see that being useless. But knowing if they have ground pick up or not? That could be useful. Some teams use data differently. With this field being the way it is, and the overflow strategy that some teams may take, knowing if a team can actually pick up the overflowing balls could be important. These may not be known by match data due to reasons stated above.
You certainly can do both if you find both valuable. In my assessment, the data that can be collected is not valuable. I wouldnât want to create useless busy work for students.
My older son would ask âwhat are your robotâs weaknessesâ. He found that about 1/3 of the teams would actually answer that question.
If you want your data to reflect what a robot can do on the field, the data should be gathered from scouting matches on the field, but pit scouting can still be useful for questions like these which are hard if not impossible to pull from watching matches:
When doing pit scouting we also collect some subjective visual assessments about things like the following without asking any questions of the team:
We feel strongly that pit scouting should be very minimal and not intrusive to the team which is probably busy getting ready or about to go through inspection.
Itâs also good to take pictures so that when you team talks about a robot youâre all sure youâre talking about the same one.
Also look at the quality of the electrical construction work. I have noticed a rough correlation between a reliable robot and good electrical construction workmanship.
âPit scoutingâ isnât nearly as useful in picking an alliance as match scouting, but only eight teams pick an alliance. Everyone benefits from pit scouting.
Itâs useful:
helping our own (newer) team members learn to recognize different drivetrains, robot parts, features
It gets kids out there meeting other teams that can lead to social links.
It gets your teamâs faces in front of the âtopâ teams so they might think about you later.
It gives your ârealâ scouting team access to photos, if you took them.
Iâm sure the list could go on.