[Karthik]

Here are a couple of things that I think will be easy for many teams to overlook:

1. Transitions from intake to scoring/trussing mechanism
This has been touched on by a couple of people, but it's worth reiterating. Looking back at 2008, lots of teams had working catapult devices, but extreme difficulties loading the catapult. It's very easy to design both an intake and auncher, but then to forget to make plans to link the two mechanisms together in a reliable and repeatable fashion. There's a tendency to leave these transitions to the last minute and say "oh, we'll figure that out". That line of thinking has led many teams down a dark road in the past.

2. Penalties for breaking the plane of the field/goal

Let me quote a couple of rules that people seem to be overlooking.

Originally Posted by G21

ROBOTS may not extend outside the FIELD.
Violation: FOUL. If continuous or repeated violations, TECHNICAL FOUL. If contact with anything outside the FIELD, RED CARD and the ROBOT will be DISABLED.

And the definition of the Field:

Originally Posted by Glossary

FIELD: a 24 ft. 8 in. x 54 ft. carpeted area, bounded by and including the GUARDRAILS, ALLIANCE WALLS, and rear faces of the LOW GOALS.

Now for the Low Goals:

Originally Posted by G26-1

ROBOTS may not break the planes of the openings of the opponent’s LOW GOALS.

Violation: FOUL. If extended, strategic, or repeated, TECHNICAL FOUL.

In the past momentary incursions outside of the field and into goals, have been permitted. Think about how frequently you've seen teams hanging over the side of the field in past seasons. If this rule is enforced strictly as written, we could be seeing a lot of 20 point penalties, perhaps even to the same level as the loading zone penalties in 2005.