Basics of Scouting

This page covers some of the basics of scouting

Why Scout?

Scouting gives you data for alliance selection. If you are in the situation of picking a team for playoffs, you want to be able to know what teams have performed well and what teams haven't. Even if you aren't a captain, being able to assist your captain in selecting a team with your data is also helpful in alliance selection.

Scouting also helps you in qualification matches as you can get an idea of what your teammates and your opponents robots are capable of in the match, assisting in your strategy.

Finally, it gives you an idea of what teams were doing and how it worked or failed. This helps you get ideas on how to improve your robot. It also lets you know how you performed and how other teams might've perceived you in the event.

How do I Scout?

Teams scout in many different ways, some teams use paper and pencil, other teams create a spreadsheet they edit from their computers, and some teams create their own scouting app that allows them to create a user interface for their scouts to use.

Which method of scouting you use is up to you and your team. There are reasons for all ways of scouting. It's up to what works best for your team.

What Information Should I Collect?

There are 2 main types of scouting: Pit Scouting and Match Scouting.

Pit Scouting mainly occurs in the first days of the event, and consists of scouts going around the pits and asking teams questions about their robot (drivetrain, autos, scoring, speed, etc.) Then they use this data to get an idea of what a robot is supposed to be capable of, as well as knowing what a team plans to do over the course of a match.

Match Scouting occurs during qualification matches, and consists of scouts watching the matches and recording what a specific robot does. What is recorded, changes from year to year, and from team to team. What you choose to record comes down to what you think the most important data is to keep track of as a team. (Examples of common data fields might be: points scored in tele-op, auto, their team number, etc.)