[StephLee]

Lesson learned the hard way: When testing autonomous mode for the first time(especially if your programmer has never programmed a FIRST robot before), put the robot up on some type of blocks so it can't move. If you insist on testing on the ground, make sure your speed is not set all the way up. If, for some reason, you ignore this advice, don't test it somewhere with a glass wall, no matter how far away from said wall you are. (We didn't hit the glass wall, but we nearly hit several people and then pinned a mentor to the wall.)

Another lesson we learned the hard way: If you're in a room about 35' by 30', don't go in the 5'-wide hallway to drive the robot for the first time, especially if the walls in the hallway are drywall and the building is brand-new. (I'd post the picture that goes with this, but I don't have a copy...)

Speed, reliability, and simplicity will win almost every time.