In the beginning there was pit scouting; checking out the other teams robots the first day of the competition.  Pit scouting is the first time we can make connections with other teams face-to-face.  There are several stories about pit scouts finding teams to help which leads to the other team selecting 578 as an alliance partner for the elimination rounds.  Before the competition, someone needs to determine what information the drivers need to know about all the other teams in attendance.  The drive team uses that information to plan upcoming matches.

     Several years ago, the team created a distinct Strategy Team led by Steve Mundt.  Before that pit scouting and pre game internet scouting were “extra” activities assigned to individuals, now the Strategy team added game scouting to the task list.  Game scouting involves collecting information on every team during the competition.  Last year all the information from game scouting was put into an Excel spreadsheet and used to predict scores of upcoming matches.  When the drive team met Friday night during the Regional, the game scouting data was used to rank teams on different aspects of the game; autonomous points, teleop scoring and climbing points.  The data was used to select preferred alliance partners.  

     The new competition team will continue all these activities plus add more drive team training, team building and strategizing.  At Champs last spring, the team did some benchmarking about other teams practices.  There are teams with dedicated drivers that stay together year round.  Some teams have drivers that specialize in offense or defense.  The competition team was formed to take 578 to the next level.  It is not enough to build a great robot, the competition team can provide a competitive edge.