We have a retractable claw otherwise our robot would go over the 18" requirement. My question is with regards to autonomous mode. After inspection, before the start of autonomous mode, can we manually put down the claw and open it so we can place a yellow cone in its grip. Or do we have to write code to do all of the above.
We’re a little unclear as to what you are asking. If you are asking if your robot can start a match outside of the 18"x18"x18" sizing box, then no, that is not legal, per <SG14>.
If you’re asking if you can use the first few seconds of the Autonomous Period to manually move a mechanism on your robot, then no, that is also not legal, per <G8> and <G5>.
If this is not clear, please feel free to rephrase and re-submit.