Gems of Wisdom

Start mechanical design as early as possible.

When possible - buy new components. Be careful about scavenging old components from the lab - bad wires, solder joints, and hardware issues took days off actual productive building time. 

Don't cheap out on servos - cheap generic micro servos, or servos purchased in bulk on Amazon tend to be defective 

Watch your current load, and make adjustments accordingly! 

Separate your analog and digital lines on the power distribution board to reduce noise as much as possible.

Beware of floating ground 

Having uniform screw and nut sizes throughout your design can save time