[Al Skierkiewicz]

As far as looks go I fall somewhere between Rich and Wayne. Wayne is slightly taller and wears far more buttons than Rich or I do. Rich and I look alike but he has a St. Louis accent.
Karl,
The rules for how to account for parts are too expansive to include here. There are a number of examples included to help you judge what and how items should be included in your BOM. If you think of the reason behind the BOM and inspections, it is easier to see the thought process behind it. FIRST is trying to inspire by having you build a robot that must meet certain real or contrived constraints to help you think and to level the playing field for all teams. Gravity and playing field size are real world constraints, while robot size and weight and the parts cost limits are the contrived constraints. It is easier to say what you don't include, that being fasteners and items that you received in the KOP.
Oh by the way, buying a robot arm and splitting it into two separate assemblies for cost accounting doesn't fly and we will be watching for examples of that. Individual components must be below $400 each.

While we are on the subject of inspections. Safety of ball shooters will be very important during inspections. There will be concerns for the safety of not only participants, robots and field, but volunteers adjacent to the field as well. Designs that use great deals of stored energy, those that are designed to launch balls great heights or distances and those that have large moving parts (and the potential for breakage of those parts) will obviously be examined with those safety concerns in mind. Please read Team Update 5, we are.