[thefro526]

- As mentioned before, the Kit of Parts drive train is an invaluable resource, and out of the box, it'll out perform a good half of the 'custom' drives built in a given year. If you've got the time, and the money, using a handful of COTS components to upgrade, whether they be from AndyMark, VexPro, West Coast Products, etc, can end up being very worth while. 1114 Produced a document outlining how to build a 'Kit Bot on Steroids' which is something achievable my more teams than not and will perform well enough to keep up with just about anyone.

- Your Drive Train is the single most important (non-control system) thing on your robot. Do no compromise the drive without good reason. I can think of numerous occasions where a has shown up to an event with a broken/under-performing/bad manipulator and still made a significant contribution to their alliances efforts by being able to drive reliably, consistently and intelligently.

- Make Friends. A lot of teams, Rookie and Veterans alike seem to spend the 6 weeks of build season in a vacuum for fear of giving up the 'secret sauce'. Trust me, it's not exactly a good idea - although, every team has the right to share as little or as much as they want with the world. Sometimes a quick 5 - minute discussion with a local team (or not so local team) can be an excellent catalyst for new ideas, or improvements to current ones, or the voice of reason to a bad strategy.

- Keep it Simple. FRC History has taught us that Simple Robots can do amazing things once on the field. Find one part of the game objective, and do it very well, and you'll have a place on someone's elimination alliance more often than not. Also, on the same train of thought, be aware that it is possible to 'over-simplify' something, especially certain mechanisms - sometimes an extra motor or degree of freedom will 'add complexity' to the system - but make it easier to operate overall. It's a battle that a lot of teams fight every year, but if you're aware of it up front, it's an easy one to come out on the upside of.