[JesseK]

Big tip: make sure you use the proper gauge wire for the motors and other components. The rules for wire gauges are there for a purpose, and that purpose to prevent you from inadvertently catching your robot on fire due to a bad gauge + bad crimp combination.

To get you started, the first thing we do is crimp quick-disconnect connectors to the end of every motor, victor, and spike. This gives us practice with stripping/crimping, which may not be a glorious job but there are noticable (10-20%) robot performance differences if you're good vs. bad at it. It will also allow you to quickly change the configuration of your electronics board setup.

Pegboard + zip ties is a great way to quickly mock the board up as well.