A: You are permitted to have external components, but cannot rely on an external power source (i.e. wall outlet).
A: LM has not yet finalized the scoring on this. The consensus is you will definitely get some points. They'd rather you do something than nothing. A team who has everything will receive more points though. The goal should be to make it autonomous.
A: LM is not yet sure. They don't, as of right now, have a response to this question. They will look into it and we will update the answer accordingly.
A: Three routes to go ultimately:
RFID
Weight sensors
Computer vision
A: Mainly visual/audio; can paint and decorate them nicely. Try to go above and beyond from the other teams.