[MrJohnston]

We should have all the 'physical' pieces in place:
Multiple long-time mentors
A very healthy budget
Plenty of very dedicated students
A shop which we can access at any time
Support (sometimes better than others) from the school
Time

I'm also thinking in terms of the approach to the season...
For instance, I do believe that it's very important to set the bar very high when looking into design strategies. If you want to go to Einstein, you have to be willing do do more than "push a single tote into the auto-zone" for an autonomous routine. Start with stacking three on your own. Then try to do more.

"That's impossible" cannot be part of the vocabulary of your team. It needs to be replaced with "That would be challenging." Then, imagine a robot that could meet said challenge. If you can imagine it, the robot can be built.