I would agree with Chris's analysis of cameras. Camera use really does track with the benefit you get within each game. There's almost always something you can do with a camera, but many times the benefit just isn't big enough to justify the time investment.
And as Eric said, suppliers like AndyMark, Vex, WCP, and a few others have gone a very long way over the past 10 years or so. The floor for teams is so much higher now than it used to be because of the ability to purchase solutions to a lot of problems, mostly surrounding gearboxes, mounting solutions, and drive train options. That's not to discount other solutions (BaneBot's line of wheels for a while, AM's compliant wheels, linear servo's, etc) that make particular challenges easier, those solutions just aren't as universally applicable, depending on the particular game or strategy design.
I think we'll see continued growth from our suppliers, as they add more and more out of the box solutions to problems teams often have. It's almost turning into a faceoff between the GDC and the suppliers - can the GDC stay one step ahead of the solutions suppliers are putting out, so the game remains a challenge?
Already this year, you can build half of a robot from off the shelf systems from AndyMark alone. They have an
intake system. They have a
winch. They have a ton of different
drive train and chassis options. I don't think I've seen anything from a supplier with a solution for a gear manipulator, a shooter, or an indexer, so there are still challenges for teams to solve. That's a huge advantage that wasn't even dreamed of by most teams 10 years ago.