Wire up the power distribution board as soon as possible. Supplying power to all of your circuits through the power distribution board is the most reliable way to ensure low-noise common grounding.
We faced a lot of issues when using a DC motor for the shooting mechanism with the Powe Distribution Board (PDB) so test more with the PDB than the bench-top power supply.
Have your circuits ready so you can replace parts that cause too much trouble early on.
Make sure your mechanical enclosure and drivetrain are robust because your robot will crash a lot.
Make sure all the functions in your SPI HAL are written out.
Make sure the driving aspect of your robot is robust
Write software using the HSM framework early rather than writing individual FSMs and trying to put them in an HSM later
Use a spreadsheet to keep track of PIC pins and keep it updated
Focus on the minimum viable product before diving into more complicated features