Scouting and Alliance Selection Ohio FTC Kickoff Team 6133 The NUTS! Walnut Hills High School

What is Scouting? Scouting is as much about your own team as it is about the other teams. The goal of scouting is to figure out how your team can best work with your two alliance partners against your three opponents, and to help produce a well thought out Pick-List. Scouting is the process of collecting objective and subjective data on all of the teams at the event (including your own team). There are several different types of scouting Pre-scouting – before the event. Pit Scouting - static review at events. Match Scouting – observation and data collection of matches Analytical methods – Statistical analysis of match results / data feeds.

Pre-Scouting Done before the tournament Check other teams websites Robot photos Basic data Preliminary capabilities Team history of performance and reliability Online ftcroot.com ftcstats.org tpascores.com theorangealliance.org

Pre-Scouting – ftcroot.com

Pre-Scouting – ftcroot.com

Pre-Scouting – ftcroot.com

Pre-Scouting – ftcroot.com

Tournament Scouting One of the most important competition aspects of FTC, scouting other teams, is too frequently overlooked. Especially, when teams are new or have few members and limited resources, but even a mediocre robot can win with great strategy built on great scouting. Knowing your opponents strengths/weaknesses wins matches Knowing your alliance partners strengths/weaknesses wins matches Knowing your own strengths/weaknesses wins matches

Tournament Scouting – Pit Interviews Talk to pit crews (drive teams too if you can) Take current robot photos Collect data on type of drive train, power (# of motors), wheel traction material, manipulators, complex or simple design, etc. Visually observe robots and pits. Does a robot seem to be under repair a lot? Do they have ready to go spare parts & assemblies? Collect robot information sheets describing robot capabilities, past performance, special characteristics Talk to other scouters (robot capabilities/record)

Tournament Scouting – Match Observation Collect results, both subjective (defense success, speed, stability, drive team skill) and objective (points scored, mechanical reliability, penalties) What did they do in autonomous/hybrid. Will you interfere with one another as partners? Can they disrupt you or you them as opponents? Drive team impressions easy/hard to work with, cooperative/uncooperative What strategies defeat them? What strategies do they defeat?

Alliance Selection Issues to Consider Scout yourself as well as others to know where your real strengths and weaknesses lie How will you evaluate robot performance & reliability, drive team teamwork, and strategy Head Scouter must be well organized Scouts must be trained so every report is consistent in how performance is rated. Keep it simple Your scouting should match your people resources. Counts and multiple choice answers are easiest to sort and analyze team performance. Essay and freeform write in answers are only good as backup material. Paper records vs computerized Paper never fails. It's easy to pull a team summary form and pass around, but is hard to sort and analyze all teams by different criteria Computers make it easy to sort data on teams

Alliance Selection St Louis World Championships Edison Division Ochoa Division Team Rank 3409 1 8686 7236 11 6929 3 11453 8 5916 8221 2 4174 8644 12 5843 7182 5 8645 15 8393 4029 4 6022 18 5414 23 5040 32 12529 39 10294 7129 4211 10 7244 3537 7 9794 21 1-2-3-4-5-7-8-10-11-12-18-32 1-2-3-4-5-8-11-12-15-21-23-39 Finals Edison Division Rank Ochoa Division 8221 2 8686 1 8644 12 6929 3 7182 5 5916 8 World Champions

Alliance Selection Review your data during the qualification matches. Discuss pros & cons as a group. Develop preliminary best lists that complement your robot & anticipated strategy. May be best offensive robots and best defensive robots. Watch the robots on your best lists during the last qualifying matches. Refine and finalize your lists. Don’t forget to watch for late bloomers, robots that finally get it together after a rough beginning. Send your Team Captain to Alliance picks with your final lists, even if you aren’t doing the picking. Compare lists for that all important second pick overlooked diamond.

Other Considerations Always be Gracious WHAT TO DO IF TOP 4 SEED Break up power alliances Pick based on complimentary abilities Pick based on rank WHAT TO DO IF NOT TOP 4 SEED Do what they can't do Be easy to work with Be strong and accommodating in strategy Perform consistently Be dependable Don't draw penalties Say YES!!!!