[vhcook]

These are probably the things that would have made the biggest difference in my rookie season:

In the general case, the wire sold by automotive supply stores is considerably more flexible and easy to work with than wire sold by hardware stores.

Gearboxes apparently need to be greased. (My rookie-year team, which is not my current team, had a lot of electrical experience but a shortage of mechanical types.)

If there is a mathematical possibility that you might end up as one of the top 15 robots at the end of qualifications, you need to be preparing in case the student you send out for alliance selection ends up as an alliance captain and has to choose. (This didn't happen to my team, but I've seen a few surprised rookies find themselves on the field selecting with no preparation when teams above them chose each other, and it's always painful to watch.)

Plexiglass shatters, use Lexan (a.k.a. polycarb) instead.

Loctite eats plastic.

Checklists are your best friend.

Drink more water - dehydration is a serious risk at events. Make sure the drive team is also drinking plenty of water.