When I have scouts come into our pits the first thing I ask is if they have seen our robot on the field. This answers a lot of question they might start asking. If they have not seen it I list all the time that we will be out on the field.
At lease this shows them what our robot can do. Sometimes we do not show all during our practice. We do this to have a edge on the first few matches we play.
One thing you should look for in robots is when they get back from the field do they have to work on it until they are up again.
I seen team working every second on there robot and tell you everything is working fine.
This year is going to be easier than last year. because you really can win matches by yourself. You get 10 point for your teammate robot if it does not move
Robust is going to be a key factor this year. I can see some robots doing good in the begining and then break and not be able to recover quick enought to do well at the end.
Look for steel. steel is real. the light stuff will break sooner or later.
One last thing look for robots that use the KISS system. If you look at a robot that looks like it was been in thrown together and has no rime or reason. beware.