I’m currently in the process of building a VEX Scouting App.
I originally had plans to implement the VEX Database to receive match schedules and such and then let the user select a match to scout from the list (similar to how FRC teams use TBA if you are familiar). However, I recently realized that the data in the VexDB is not particularly reliable and that information for some events is seldom put it within the week of the event, much less real time, and sometimes is never even entered. With this, many of the features I had intended to implement simply cannot work.
So, I came to the tough realization that my app was basically a prettier version of a Google Sheets. As such, I have come to the forums to ask what would feature(s) would make my app worth using over a Google Sheets?
As of now, the features I have plan to or at least have though about implementing include:
A login/register and team system
Time/Event based scouting (buttons like “intake cube” and “place stack” with integrated match timer to increase ease-of-use and calculate time-dependent variables like cycle time)
Pretty graphs and some calculated values from data (please suggest any specific values or graphs or any other data analysis that would be useful)
Match Prediction based on collected and prexisting data (if applicable)
Sharing data between teams
Assign team members to scout
Also, I want to know if anyone is even interested in something like this. It’s going to be mobile friendly a singificantly nicer in terms of aesthetics in comparison to other VEX Scouting options.
Who would be interested in using such a VEX Scouting App?
Yes
Possibly
No chance
0voters
Please let me know what guys think about this and PLEASE make some suggestions. Thanks!
(Also, the tentative name is ScoutMe.me)
Two things I would throw out; a past attempt and a suggestion.
Someone attempted to do something kind of similar idea in sharing data between teams; See here.
Secondly, I’d like to see implementation of something @Wes8 proposed here. I don’t believe “Stacking Power Rating” is calculable unless one just considers the total blocks in the scoring zones, but I feel like “Average Score Ratio” and “Average Tower Multiplier Ratio” could be interesting to note.
One thing I always wanted was a place where you could just find the event you’re attending, and it gives you stats of all the teams registered for that event.
So the only reliable way for me to do that is off of the VEX Databse (which scrapes from RobotEvents), and is is not uncommon for events on RobotEvents to not have any data. I will still try to implement this, but results will vary from event to event.
I could take data that other teams scout and make it public, but that would kind of ruin the whole point of scouting yourself and also no one would probably like that. If you have other suggestions of where I could get that data, I’m all ears!
TL;DR will totally implement that, but due to limitations, results may vary between events.
Maybe add a feature where you list various features of bots (can stack, can score in x, y, and z towers, etc) and assign a value to them to get a cumulative ‘strength’ score for that team.
Good idea!
I forgot to mention in the original post that pit scouting will also be a feature, where it will have fields to upload pictures and talk about mechanisms and features of a bot. I think your idea can be integrated well with the pit scouting feature!
You might generalize “robot features” to “tags” for a team, so you can include things that aren’t robot-specific as well (and future-proof the tool against other games where there will be different robot features to care about).
One possible idea would be to make the app work in “groups.” Let’s say for instance a team has 2 people allocated to scouting. One of those scouts could make a group in the app, then invite the other scout. Then, those two people in the group would share data (i.e., the scouting information that one of them entered would be available in the app to the other). In addition, they could invite other teams to their group in order to pool resources.
I see a few issues with sharing all data between teams:
Some teams might want to closely guard their scouting data
Some teams might not trust other teams to enter correct information (for instance, if a team repeatedly put misleading or inaccurate information into the scouting app for some reason)
Some teams might have a particular methodology that they don’t want other teams to mess up
The “groups” idea I proposed might have some downsides, however, as some teams might feel left out if nobody will add them to a group. Perhaps some wording in the app saying something like “try and include other teams” would be helpful? Or maybe a setting groups can enable to make their data public?
The link leads to an old “lite” version; my main version of the app uses a database to store information, which ensures that you don’t have to do any of the weird copy-pasting stuff. Even my current version is a little sloppy, but I assure you it isn’t that sloppy
Contact me if you want to see my current version or want help with yours. I’m disappointed with how mine turned out, frankly, but hopefully it has some salvageable ideas that can be passed on
By the way, my main version includes features other people have mentioned such as image uploads, scores for various abilities, and note-taking, so I could definitely help with those things.
I’m not sure I completely understand; could you elaborate on this?
I do understand the future-proofing thing. I think its possible though probably a lot of additional infrastructure but, if it makes the difference, I’ll consider it
Sounds good
I’ve PMd you.
I totally understand this, which is why I’m apprehensive to implement it.
Regarding groups, I’m already intending to have a “team” system. When you make an account you can create a team entity (by entering your team number, name, etc.) and the creator will have the ability to invite people the the team. I’ll probably have to manually check/contact those who want to make a team so as to ensure there’s no impersonating or other funny business going on. All data collected by users will be recorded into a table for their team, rather than under their own name.
Regarding adding other teams, I think I could also implement a separate system to share data between team entities. This probably will/should only be used for alliance members.
Something like tagging images with people on Facebook, for example. You tag a team with something like “small side auton”, “6+ capacity”, “unreliable”, etc. Then when you’re trying to find a partner, you search on your criteria tags: “small side auton”, “6+ capacity”, NOT “unreliable” and see if any teams come up that have all the tags you want (or don’t want).
It seems like it would be simpler to have the app not worry about the team numbers of the people adding data to it. So every individual scout in an alliance would create an account. One of them would create an alliance “sharing group” on the app, and then invite every other scout in that alliance to join. From there, each scout could start uploading data.
This would work for a ton of use cases:
Just recording data for yourself? Don’t create a sharing group.
Recording data with another teammate? Create a sharing group for members of your team.
Recording data with an alliance? Create a sharing group for all individuals in that alliance.
Recording data with the help of someone who isn’t on a VEX team themselves? No worries, just add them to the sharing group.
Unregistered team, like most of China? Again, still works.
Adding team numbers adds a lot of complexity. You’d have to verify that people aren’t impersonating others, create two separate sharing systems (intra-team and inter-team), and then what would you do about unregistered teams or people not on teams? I don’t really see the benefit of structuring it by team number.
This sounds great!
Another thing that would be useful is a way to upload information about multiple teams at the same time so that during a match a user could take notes on all four teams simultaneously.
When do you anticipate releasing this app and will this be compatible with both Apple and Android phones?
That’s actually a great idea! I’ll definitely look into implementing that!
Wow I really didn’t think about that… I will definitely be taking this into consideration! Thanks for saving me all that effort
I personally think it would be a bit too difficult for someone to scout all four team at a time, especially on a mobile device, but I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. If you have particular ideas of how to implement/format that, I’m all ears!
I intend for it to be a webapp, rather than a iOS or Google Play application, so that any device can access it. I’m taking all liberties to make sure it’s responsive and formats comfortably on mobile devices, however.
Any suggestion on what metrics to record to show defense?
I currently have a “defensive rating” field, where you can rate a teams defense for a match from 1-5 and N/A if they played no defense. If you have another idea, I’m open.
Hi, just wondering what kinds of information you can get other than just the final score of the match. Is it possible to get data like number of cubes scored - which colours were scored for each alliance and how many towers were scored?
