I've said this before, while I will admit that hurdling that 10 pound track ball will be difficult, and racing around the field might be exciting, I think FIRST took us backwards as far as actual robotics is concerned. You can read my post
here to hear all about how I feel about the lack of autonomous. In short, I don't find hybrid mode challenging at all and I think its just an excuse to make the game more exciting for outside spectators, at the cost of autonomous ingenuity.
Mike C.