Our team had a half functioning robot for a single match (but we solved nearly all our issues
), but I watched a good amount of them. Some general notes:
The difference between some form of traction control, even if it's exists only code, and no traction control is the difference between having a target or having a competitor.
Half a second for scoring. A robot in a scoring position with a opponent trailer will reliably score any balls for .5 second. If your robot needs more time to dump/shoot/fling, you NEED some sort of pinning/trapping strategy.
Hit and run is the way to go. The longer you take to put balls in a trailer, the longer you are a target.
Back up! Very few times are you actually trapped, you CAN back up with the trailer.
Wheels coordinated. If your drive train is set up with each side having their own power, you should NEVER have them going in contrary directions. It's impossible to pivot with the trailer, a (relatively) tight turn can be made by moving one side and keeping the other stationary.
Herding viable! Good payload specialists will run out of balls fairly quickly. A robot that has some means of pushing or transporting balls en masse to the PS will be providing great help to the alliance. Any robot capable of moving can be useful in this regard.
That's all I can think of right now. Just a final note though, programmers CANNOT be using recycled code or code designed without a trailer in mind. The default arcade or tank code is only good to test the motors.