I am working on putting together what categories I will have for match scouting. The simplest version of scouting that I have is to have a hatch panel and cargo section and just tally the total moved. However, this does not tell me if they are really good at the bottom ones and just have a slow lift (thus making them place fewer), or are playing defense.
Is it a good idea to have a timer and try to time different actions to see where they are better, or is it better to try and keep the data collecting as simple as possible?
A timer is too distracting to a scouter, especially if it is a first year scouter. You want to make scouting very simple for your scouter so that the data you receive is as accurate as it could be.
Do not place a timer in the match scouting sheet. I would recommend placing a section that says Cargo/HP dropped and than if its over x amount determine from their if their are unreliable
Personally I have the scouting sheets designed so that they can be used by literal 1st graders (6 year olds), because that’s about how much intelligence I have at the end of the day. (also it can be a good distraction if parents bring their kids)
As much color coordination as possible
Tally marks/check-boxes instead of numbers for counting
No data that would be invalidated by the scouter dazing off for 5 seconds
The more frequently two fields have to be written in the closer they should be physically
Decently sized fields to accept sloppy penmanship
If you want cycle time you can take the total elements played in a match and divide by the match time. While potentially less accurate, it’ll be more precise and indicative of actual performance in a match.
On our sheets we’re keeping track of where each robot scores and a good excel sheet, so we can tell on average how many elements were scored but if they average one more low goal than they do high goals we can see that too.
Also for defense there is a much higher average quality in drive trains/defense than scoring mechanisms/offense. There might be that one robot that’s just amazing at defense, but I assume you have a qualitative notes field/scout.