After watching some action I decided to take a look at the pits. There seemed to be three (main) things that set the team's robots apart from one another: Its gripper (or lack thereof), its mini-bot (or lack thereof), and if it was autonomous or not. The first 15 seconds are programming only; no human interaction. A chance for bonus points awarded to ingenuity. After that there is a human driver controlling the bot. They also have to deal with the robot's design flaws/design superiority when it came to lining up with a tower to deliver the mini climbing robot.
And the security at FIRST events is firm. Firm, but fair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SzJ0pyKqc0