Scouting Presentation 2025 - Reefscape Game

Scouting Presentation Reefscape Attendance 2025 Game Animation Robot Scouting Observe and analyze an INDIVIDUAL ROBOT during a match There will be 6 robot scouts (3 blue and 3 red) at a time. Scouts will observe teams and scout with a pre-made scouting app. Scouting leads will be available to...

Scouting Presentation Reefscape Attendance 2025 Game Animation Robot Scouting Observe and analyze an INDIVIDUAL ROBOT during a match There will be 6 robot scouts (3 blue and 3 red) at a time. Scouts will observe teams and scout with a pre-made scouting app. Scouting leads will be available to make sure the app is working smoothly and to help answers questions. Anyone is eligible to be a robot scout. In order to be eligible to scout at competitions, you must complete the following prior to our competitions; ○ Attend this presentation ○ Complete the scouting test and pass the test ○ Complete practice scouting What is Pit Scouting? What is Alliance Scouting? The process of scouting robots in Scouting each ALLIANCE the PIT and assessing the holistically and analyzing the robot’s mechanism communication and Pit Scouters will most likely be collaboration between the teams scouting during the load-in day Scouting a whole alliance to which typically falls on the night analyze team strategy. prior to the competition beginning. Leads will typically be pit scouting but interested students can reach out Why is Scouting Important? Effective scouting helps 177 & 429 prepare for what a team will do or want to do in upcoming matches if we are with or against them ○ Predicting expected gameplay ○ Creating winning strategies ○ Evaluating strength of individual teams and alliance strategy Scouting and strategy is the best competitive advantage in a competition and directly helps the team win matches Used as a core component in evaluating robot skill to determine how to prioritize a ranked pick list for Alliance Selection Can build relationships with other teams ○ Having good scouting data can result in other teams wanting to work with us The Blue Alliance  Scan This QR Code Types of Drive Trains Tank Left and right wheel(s) are driven independently Strengths ○ Easy to drive ○ Potential for high speed and/or pushing force ○ Harder to be bullied by defence Weaknesses ○ Slightly less agile than other drivetrains Swerve 4 wheels, one in each corner Uses traction wheels Strengths ○ Extremely Agile ○ Can put wheels in an X and be nearly unmovable Weaknesses ○ Lower pushing force ○ Difficult to drive  Similar layout to tank drive, Slide with one or more extra wheels perpendicular to the rest Uses all omni wheels Strengths ○ Agile ○ Easily moves sideways (strafes) Weaknesses ○ No potential for high pushing force ○ Bullied by defense  Similar layout to tank drive, Mecanum but each wheel must be driven independently Must use 4 mecanum wheels Strengths ○ Fairly easy to design & build ○ Agile Weaknesses ○ No potential for high pushing force ○ Can be bullied by defense 2025 Game: Reefscape Field Game Field (p.19) Overview Friendly Notes on Human Players at Competitions Blue human players will be at the red processor and vice versa Human player coral stations are on the same side as the reef (acquisition and scoring is done on the same side) Auto Points Auto Points(p.48) You can get an AUTO RP if ALL robots in your alliance leave and the alliance scores at least one coral on the REEF in auto Tele-Op Match Points Tele-Op + Endgame(p.48) Ranking Points Types of Fouls/Penalties Penalty (p.49) Description Minor Foul a credit of 2 points towards the opponent’s MATCH point total Major Foul a credit of 6 points towards the opponent’s MATCH point total a warning issued by the Head REFEREE for egregious ROBOT or team Yellow Card member behavior or rule violations. Two YELLOW CARDs within the same tournament phase results in a RED CARD. Red Card a penalty assessed for egregious ROBOT or team member behavior or rule violations which results in a team being DISQUALIFIED for the MATCH. Disabled the state in which a ROBOT is commanded to deactivate all outputs, rendering the ROBOT inoperable for the remainder of the MATCH the state of a team in which they receive zero (0) MATCH points and zero (0) Disqualified Ranking Points in a Qualification MATCH or causes their ALLIANCE to receive zero (0) MATCH points in a Playoff MATCH Penalties (p.63 - 71) G409: A robot may be in possession of 1 CORAL and 1 ALGAE - Minor foul per additional game piece G421: 1 defender at a time - Minor foul + major foul for every additional 3 seconds G425: 3 second pin count - Minor foul and major foul for every additional 3 seconds G427: A robot cannot contact an opponent robot inside their REEF or BARGE zone regardless of who initiated contact- Major foul G428: A robot cannot contact an opponent robot touching their cage during endgame - Major foul and BARGE RP to opponent’s alliance G418/419: Robot may not contact an opponent’s cage/anchor during tele-op- Major foul and BARGE RP to opponent’s alliance Referee Signals Penalty Referee Signal Count (for pinning) Referee points at robot; do NOT confuse with fouls Count Broken Referee will cancel out a count by waving their arms side to side Referee waves flag of offending bots alliance color overhead while pointing Minor Foul at the robot Referee waves flag of offending bots alliance color overhead while pointing Major Foul at the robot; followed by crossing their arms over their head into an X shape At the end of the match, the referee will stand in front of offending alliance Yellow and Red Card station holding a yellow/red card; cards will be announced at the end of the match Possible Roles  Why is Identifying Roles What Are Some Hybrid Roles? Important When Scouting? 177 & 429 want to understand Robots may play multiple roles what each robot is best at in a given match (e.g. scoring during a match and passive defense) When scouting, look at your Helps our alliance to assigned robot and determine determine strategies (robots which role they contribute to that show efficient scoring or in a match effective defense) Be specific with how a robot Important for alliance goes about playing the game (situational awareness) selection (this helps us effectively pick teams for their effectiveness and skill (strengths vs. weaknesses) ) Types of Defense Pinning: Pushing: Blocking: Pin Robots against Pushing Robots Blocking the shots walls away from scoring of robots Prevent opposing Not all robots can Forces different/ robots from be pushed around. inefficient moving at all Works best shooting locations Penalties after 3 against omni and seconds mecanum bots. Ineffective vs. Effective Defenses Ineffective Effective Robots that allow target to Preventing proper cycling properly cycle Disabling Robots Movements Robot puppy guard one area (pinning for no longer than Bumping without pushing 3 seconds at a time) strength Prevents scoring High number of penalties opportunities Pushing Robot out of their path. Low number of penalties Scoring Robots can score ALGAE and CORAL ○ Coral in the reefs ○ Algae in the processor or net Cycle between picking up and scoring This robot might get defended Can initiate fouls for free points (drive into BARGE or REEF zones while being defended) Feeder (passing game pieces) Instead of scoring, gives the actual scorer game pieces to minimize their cycle times NOT ALL ALLIANCES WILL HAVE A COLLECTOR ○ Robots may collect many CORAL and ALGAE and put them near teammates for east scoring/away from opponents for game piece starvation May not be as frequent in this game but still look out for them Climbing Certain robots may prioritize climbing either SHALLOW (high) or DEEP (low) cages 3 cages per BARGE zone (alliance can choose whether initial set up is SHALLOW or DEEP) “Buddy Climb” - Robots may be designed to climb in endgame, made for another robot to fit on the same cage Possible to stop a robot from climbing through defense (can prevent them from getting to their BARGE zone, be wary of Climbers  Why Should Teams Climb a Why is the Speed of Climbing CAGE? Important? Climbing: ○ SHALLOW CAGE - 6 points Faster climbs leave time to do ○ DEEP CAGE - 12 points more scoring/defending (more An alliance with 14 BARGE points = more fun. points gets ONE Barge ranking Speed is relative, at Waterbury a point (RP) climb that may qualify as “fast”, ○ Points from scoring in the might be slow at DCMP or WCMP net are not counted towards ○ Make sure to compare the BARGE RP (only climbs between the robots hanging) at the event. ○ If you can climb on your own on a DEEP CAGE (12pts), all you need for an the BARGE RP is one What is a Competition Like? At Competitions - What Are Qualification Matches? Typically, 10-12 qualification matches are played per team. On your alliance, you are playing with two (2) randomly selected teams that are from different schools. In match play, you can earn up to six (6) ranking points. ○ Win= 3 RP ○ Tie= 1 RP ○ Loss= 0 RP ○ CORAL RP= 1 RP ○ BARGE RP= 1 RP ○ AUTO RP = 1 RP At Competitions - What is the Alliance Selection Process? After qualifications, the top 8 seeded robots are eligible to select alliances for playoffs. The top seeded robot is awarded the 1st overall pick. Alliance selection is completed by a snake draft. The 8th seed gets the last pick of the first round, but also the first pick of the second round. A team can reject a selection, but that means that they need to start their own alliance and other teams can not pick them. Usually the only teams that do this are teams that are already in a playoff seed. If an alliance captain picks another alliance captain, the next seeded team moves into an alliance captain slot At Competitions - What are the Playoffs? During playoffs, the same match rules apply (excluding Coopertition & Ranking Points). The playoffs are double elimination, meaning you have to lose two matches to be eliminated. Since New England participates in the district scoring system, winning matches, seeding high, and winning awards all help contribute to the likelihood teams can be eligible for District Championships & World Championships The winning alliance is given a blue competition victory banner and team medals. Playoff Double Elimination Bracket(p.122) What Is a Pick List? Picking the Robot What do we value as most important on an alliance? ○ Scoring game pieces effectively ○ Autonomous ability ○ Reliability ○ Consistency ○ Demonstrating a knowledge of understanding the game and rules (penalty free teams) Who can compliment our team the best? If we are picked by another team, should we accept or decline that invite? Answering all of these questions, will help determine an order to our pick list. ○ District & DCMP Events: Since Alliance selection at district events & DCMP includes 2 rounds of picking (8 alliances pick 2 teams each, for a total of 24 total robots participating in playoffs), we create a pick list that includes at least 24 teams on it (which includes ourselves). Valuable Differences What stands out about this robot, and why? ○ Can this robot do something we can’t do? ○ Can this robot do something we can do, but better? ○ Does this robot have an ability we don’t want another alliance have? What role does this robot provide? ○ Defense ○ Counter-Defense ○ Algae specialist? ○ Coral ○ Deep Cage Specialist? Increasing Match Success What do we need to succeed in a match, and what robots accomplish that task? ○ Alliances should be able to fulfill every task on the field. ○ Weigh negatives with positives. ○ 1st pick should be able to fulfill more tasks than the second picks picks. Know where we are limited by other robots ○ Do not have a copy of our robot (no two exact robots) ○ Compatibility but not similarity Know which robots can drive well and have effective strategy ○ Look at past history (not just one match). Know which teams have effective team dynamics, both on and off the field ○ Know how the team acts (drivers -> no meanies) ○ Get a team that will compromise and coordinate Complementary vs. Secondary Robots ○ We don’t want a carbon copy of our robot Knowing the Robot What rank is this robot? ○ Robots outside of top 8 typically don’t decline ○ Rank doesn’t always equal good. What is their history of W/L, point contribution, defense, strategy? ○ History isn’t everything, but it’s nice to know if a team can be trusted. Do they break down every other match? What does this robot do well? Defend? Score? Collect? ○ Don’t pick an offense robot to play defense and vice-versa. What are the shortcomings of this robot? ○ Is there an essential game element they can’t do. Does this robot depend on another, or a certain situation, to succeed? How will this robot interact with ours? ○ Pick Meetings Mechanics ○ WHAT HAPPENS IN THE PICK MEETING STAYS IN THE MEETING!!! ○ Be respectful after the pick meetings to other team members opinions and other teams. ○ E.g. If someone from another team asks “where are we on your list” respond, “I don’t know” If teams are persistent, redirect them to one of the student leaders or a mentor ○ Do not speak negatively about robots at competitions. Sharing feedback at a pick meeting with just our team is the appropriate time and place to provide feedback. Track performance (Watchlist) ○ Robots we are willing to be on an alliance with but we want to see how they perform more. Possible alliance selection scenarios Materials Scouting data (database and sheets) ○ Collected on the app and transferred into a database or used to compile match sheets Scouter opinion and reasoning ○ Everybody’s opinion is valued Videos ○ Always have one person record EVERY SINGLE one of our matches. Strategy Data vs Pick List Data What Data is Used for Pick List? Data used to Differentiate Robots (better/worse) ○ Number of Coral & Algae Scored ○ Miss percentage ○ Consistency ○ Auto scoring & cycles Scouter Comments ○ If a robot is on the fence sheets will be pulled ○ Qualitative data - Ex: How “confident” are robots? ○ Are they consistent? ○ Can they get easily defended ○ Did they have costly penalties/ fouls. ○ THE COMMENTS YOU WRITE CARRY WEIGHT  What is Important Data for Scouting Test Information & Strategy? Dates Qualitative Data (what you Scouting Tests will be: see) ○ Wednesday, February 5th at 7:00 PM EST Try to remember key points ○ Thursday, February 6th at from a robot in driving 7:00 PM EST patterns Please be on time for the Patterns of driving that can start of the test. be defended - Defense is Key In order to be eligible to What are weaknesses you scout at competitions, you see about a team’s driving? must pass the scouting test, Does the robot always score and practice scouting prior in one spot or do they have to competitions. a pattern in ways they Read the Game Manual!