[KenWittlief]

I was thinking more in terms of the requirements of the robot itself.

The robot must be able to perform its most important function reliably - in most cases this means being able to move around the field - but not just move - it must be able to navigate the field effectively and consistantly - using last years game as an example, you must not only be able to move around the carpet, you had to be able to cross the ramp - the robot had to move and go where the driver wants it to.

I think second is the ability to repair the machine easily and quickly - even if you are very robust, if you get damaged unexpectantly your team needs to be able to replace any part within a short amount of time - remember this when designing drivetrains, actuators, and when mounting and wiring your controls systems - if your robot controller is buried deep inside the machine, and your wireing is a rats nest, you will never be able to swap it out if you have to (and sometimes they are damaged during a match).

third is the secondary funtions of the machine - using last years game as an example again, this would be things like wings that spread out, stacker functions, parking mechanisms, box grabbing actuators - if these things fail or dont work effectively, its not the end of the world - as long as your bot can navigate the field you can still interact with it - so from a design standpoint these secondary functions should get less attention as the others, and make sure they dont comprimise the two things listed first - if so, leave them off. A robot with a great stacker (for example) is going to loose if the stacker makes the machine top heavy, and you frequently get knocked over because of it.

you GOT TO keep your priorities straight :c)

a robot that cant navigate the playfield is nothing but a fancy statue!